PowerShares Series to Kick Off Tonight in Salt Lake City
The 2015 PowerShares Series champions tennis circuit gets underway on Tuesday night, as Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Mark Philippoussis and James Blake will partake in the first-ever pro tennis event where line calls are made solely by the Hawk-Eye system.
The PowerShares series is a North American pro tennis tour for champion tennis players north of the age of 30. It makes stops in 12 different cities over the course of the year, and the first stop will be in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
The matches will be played at Huntsman Arena on the campus of the University of Utah.
The events will feature only a chair umpire, with the line-calls being made by the Hawk-Eye technology.
“I expect it to be really interesting,” said Agassi. “Weird, I guess, would be one way to put it. I can absolutely tell you that when you’re playing with linesmen, you feel like you see every ball. You have this safety net of knowing that most likely they’re not going to miss a call. Then when you take those linesmen away, and you have to actually make every call.”
Players are allowed to challenge as many times as they want throughout the match.
Each part of the 12-city circuit features two one-set semifinal matches followed by a one-set championship match. Agassi will play Courier in the first semifinal followed by Blake and Philippoussis in the second semifinal.
Following Tuesday night in Salt Lake City, the PowerShares Series moves to Los Angeles on Wednesday night, and will pit Pete Sampras against Courier and Andy Roddick versus Blake.
Below is the full schedule for the entire PowerShares circuit this year:
â–ºMarch 24: Salt Lake City, Utah
James Blake vs. Mark Philippoussis & Andre Agassi vs. Jim Courier
â–ºMarch 25: Los Angeles, Calif.
Pete Sampras vs. Jim Courier & Andy Roddick vs. James Blake
â–ºApril 1: Lincoln, Neb.
Andy Roddick vs. Jim Courier & James Blake vs. John McEnroe
â–ºApril 2: Chicago, Ill.
John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier & Andy Roddick vs. James Blake
â–ºApril 16: Austin, Texas
John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier & Andy Roddick vs. James Blake
â–ºApril 17: Little Rock, Ark.
Andy Roddick vs. Jim Courier & John McEnroe vs. Mark Philippoussis
â–ºApril 18: Dallas, Texas
John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier & Andy Roddick vs. Mark Philippoussis
â–ºApril 22: Boston, Mass.
John McEnroe vs. Jim Courier & Andy Roddick vs. James Blake
â–ºApril 23: Richmond, Va.
Jim Courier vs. Andy Roddick & John McEnroe vs. James Blake
â–ºApril 29: Minneapolis, Minn.
John McEnroe vs. James Blake & Andy Roddick vs. Michael Chang
â–ºApril 30: Cincinnati, Ohio
Andy Roddick vs. James Blake & John McEnroe vs. Michael Chang
â–ºMay 2: Vancouver, Canada
Michael Chang vs. Mark Philippoussis & Pete Sampras vs. John McEnroe
