Champions Cup Boston

The Outback Champions Tour made a stop in the Boston area this weekend at the Bosse Sports Club in Sudbury, and by all accounts, the event was a big hit with both players and fans. The Champions Tour is made up of players who have participated in a Grand Slam final and/or have been ranked in the top 5 in the world. Former world number one and multiple Grand Slam winner Jim Courier is the driving force behind this tour, and other notable players are John McEnroe, Mats Wilander, Goran Ivanisevic, Todd Martin, and Pat Cash, all of whom were present for the Champions Cup Boston event.

We decided to check out the action with another couple on Saturday night and beginning with our arrival on the grounds, we were thoroughly impressed with everything we encountered from the VIP tents and concessions, to the intimate setting of the venue, to the quality of the tennis. It was immediately obvious that this event was being run in a first-rate manner.

Before the match began, Wayne Bryan (father of the Bryan twins) got the crowd revved up for the arrival of Courier and Martin, and he also did the player introductions. Bryan has a great voice and the perfect personality for his role as ringmaster on this tour.

The quality of the match was high from the outset. Todd Martin is 6’6” and has a good first serve that he uses to help him dictate points. Martin would prefer not to be on the defensive in points as his movement on court is not a strength. Jim Courier is one of the most solid baseline players of the last 20 years. His main strengths are his inside-out forehand along with solid serving.

Early on in the match, Martin was moving around well and was making an impact on Courier’s serve. He was the beneficiary of a bad call at 2 all in the first set and went on to break Courier for a 3-2 lead. If there was one detraction for the entire event, it was the number of bad calls. Martin served well throughout the first set with several aces and he closed it out at 6-2.

In the first game of the second set, Martin had a couple of chances to break right away, but Courier held on to his serve. After he pulled that game out, we got the sense that Courier, one of the most tenaciously competitive players ever, was going to claw his way back into the match. The former world number one made an impression in several of Martin’s service games in the second set, but the tall man from Michigan managed to play the big points well and hold on to serve. Before the match, Courier had told TV commentators Leif Shiras and Jimmy Arias that he wanted to attack the Martin second serve, and we could see that he was trying that, but Martin wasn’t buckling under the pressure – not yet at least.

There were no breaks of serve in the second set, so it went to a tie-break to settle it. Martin took a 5-4 lead in the breaker, but threw in a double fault at that point. His sometimes shaky second serve failed him at the wrong time. That buoyed Courier’s hopes and he took the next 2 points to win the tie-break and the set. Martin had to be sick with himself as he had the match on his racquet with 2 service points at 5-4 ahead in the tie-break only to lose both of them.

To decide the match, a super tie-break is used in lieu of a third set. The format of the super tie-break is first player to reach 10 points with a margin of 2. Courier had the momentum going into the super tie-break and Martin had to pick up his spirits after blowing his late lead in the second set breaker.

The tennis in the super tie-break was exhilarating. Both players held match points at various times and Martin ended up triumphing with a 13-11 victory. The players received a thoroughly deserved standing ovation at the end. The quality of the tennis, the superb shot making, the rapport between the players and with the crowd all made the evening perfectly enjoyable for everyone involved. It was also great to be among so many friends from the New England tennis community.

Based on Boston’s reaction to this event, it’s hard to believe that some people think there isn’t a strong interest in tennis in the area. I think the players were impressed with the amount of support for the event and they appeared to be very appreciative of it. The fact that the event will be returning next year is very welcome news. My guess is that this will be a pretty tough ticket next year.

Other Thoughts

· We thoroughly enjoyed the television coverage on NESN HD with Leif Shiras and Jimmy Arias. We’re big fans of the under appreciated Arias as he has a great sense of humor that he incorporates into his top shelf analysis. We also enjoyed trying to find friends in the crowd as well as ourselves when we watched the taped broadcast of the Martin-Courier match.

· John McEnroe appears more cantankerous than ever. It’s hard to tell if that’s because he feels it’s expected as part of the entertainment or if he’s stalling and distracting his opponent simultaneously. Regardless, some of his behavior was rather boorish. We’ve never been fans of the mighty Mac, but his march to the final was impressive. He easily could have won the event and at 47 years old, that would have been remarkable indeed.

· It was nice to see Bud Collins taking in the action at the Bosse Sports Club. He had a nice article on the final in today’s Boston Globe.