DELRAY BEACH, October 30, 2024 (Press Release)
Tennis fans will be treated to a fun and competitive Legends event Feb. 7-9 to kick off the Delray Beach Open ATP tournament that runs through Feb. 16. The Legends event will feature a strong lineup of Grand Slam champions, Olympic medalists and DBO winners.
Bob and Mike Bryan, who will be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame next year, and Grand Slam champions Luke and Murphy Jensen will be joined by DBO singles champions Sam Querrey, Jack Sock, Xavier Malisse and Tommy Haas in the three-day Legends competition.
Individual session and series packages are available now at www.DelrayBeachOpen.com. A variety of up-close, unique seating experiences including on-court Best Seats in the House, shaded Veranda seats, courtside Box and Reserved seats are available.
The Bryan brothers are the winningest doubles team in the sport’s history. Together they won 119 titles, including 16 Grand Slams and six DBO championships. They finished as the year-end No. 1 doubles team 10 times and won Olympic gold together in 2012. They will play in the DBO Legends event for the fifth time.
The Jensens brought the fun to doubles when they stormed to the 1993 French Open title and have entertained fans ever since. During their career they played in Delray Beach nine times, reaching the doubles final in 1997. Since retiring, each has worked in broadcasting and coaching. “Dual Hand Luke” Jensen can play with either hand, even serving ambidextrously. This will be their fourth year playing together in the Delray Legends event.
Sock retired from the pro tour in 2023, having won the DBO singles title in 2017, the doubles title in 2013 and 2018, and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 8. He won four Grand Slam doubles and mixed doubles titles and Olympic gold and bronze. Sock has won singles and doubles titles at all top-level events held in Delray Beach, from the USTA National 12s and 18s to the ATP Tour event. All that’s left for him to conquer here is the Legends event, where he is making his debut.
Querrey will play in his third Delray Beach Open Legends event after retiring from the ATP Tour in 2022. He won the DBO title in 2016 and played the event 12 times. Querrey reached a career-high ranking of No. 11, won 10 titles and reached the semifinals at 2017 Wimbledon. Sock and Querrey make up half of the team on the podcast Nothing Major. Both are now pickleball pros, and Querrey has developed an Instagram following for his light-hearted videos about tennis, pickleball and family life.
Haas won the DBO title in 2006 and reached No. 2 in the world, won 15 total singles titles and Olympic silver. He is making his sixth appearances in the Legends event, which he has won twice. A three-time semifinalist at the Australian Open, he also reached one Wimbledon semifinal. Over the course of his career, Haas defeated Agassi, Djokovic, Federer and Sampras at least three times each. He is now the tournament director of the ATP 1000 Masters event in Indian Wells, Calif.
The player Haas beat in a third-set tiebreak to win the 2006 title, Malisse, is making his debut in the Delray Legends event. Malisse is tied for most appearances in Delray Beach while he was on tour with 13. He holds the record for most match wins in tournament history with 26, is one of only five players to win the Delray Beach singles title twice (2005, 2007), and reached a tournament-record five total singles finals. He also won the doubles title in 2007 to become one of three players to win the singles and doubles in the same year. Malisse is currently coaching Top 25 player Alexei Popyrin.
In the ATP 250 event that starts Feb. 10, two-time defending champion Taylor Fritz will attempt the first three-peat in tournament history. He’ll be joined by 2024 finalist Tommy Paul. Fritz’s successful year continued in September when he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open. He became the first American man to reach the final there since Andy Roddick in 2006. Paul won three titles this year and reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals. He briefly overtook Fritz twice as the No. 1 American, and has equaled his career-high ranking of world No. 12.
Fritz and Paul teamed up to win the doubles Olympic bronze medal in Paris this year, and Paul will join Fritz on the US team at the Davis Cup Finals next month.
The Delray Beach stop on the global ATP Tour annually plays in front of more than 60,000 fans and reaches television audiences in over 100 countries.
Some of the world’s best players launched their careers at the Delray Beach Open. Delray Beach champions include former US Open winners Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro and Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson. Other competitors over the tournament’s 32 years of ATP tennis include a roster of Hall of Famers and fan favorites such as Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter, Jim Courier, Michael Chang, Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and Jimmy Connors.
