CHARLESTON, April 9, 2018 (Press Release)
Tommy Haas began in career on the Invesco Series circuit in rousing fashion Sunday morning, winning the QQQ Legends Charleston title defeating Andy Roddick 6-1 in the championship match at the Volvo Car Stadium.
The event was delayed until Sunday morning due to rain Saturday in Charleston and was played in cold and windy conditions with tournament play starting at 8 am with temperatures in the 40s.
“I grew up in Hamburg, Germany. These were like regular conditions for us to play outside on clay, cold and windy,” said Haas. “But it’s never that easy.”
Tommy Haas (photo: Invesco Series)
Haas, who turned 40 on April 3, ended his career on the ATP World Tour last year. The former world No. 2 and silver medalist at the 2000 Olympic Games won his last career ATP match in Stuttgart, Germany last June on grass when he upset Roger Federer in the second round. Roddick, the winner of the year-long Invesco Series points title in 2015 and 2017, joked his displeasure of Haas joining the North American circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30 by saying there should be a rule that players should not be eligible to play on the series if they had beaten Federer within the last year.
Haas advanced into the final by beating Michael Chang 6-2 in the opening 8 am semifinal Sunday, winning the first five games of his Invesco Series career. Roddick defeated last year’s Charleston runner-up Mark Philippoussis 6-3 in the other semifinal, avenging his loss to the Australian the previous year on the same court in the semifinals.
The Invesco Series continues next month at Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows at Kohala Coast, Hawaii for the first-ever Invesco Series event in Hawaii. The remaining schedule, with player fields, is as follows
2018 QQQ Champions Series by Invesco Schedule:
· April 7: Charleston, SC (Family Circle Tennis Center) – Andy Roddick, Michael Chang, Tommy Haas and Mark Philippoussis
· May 5, 6: Kohala Coast, HI (Mauna Lani Bay Hotel & Bungalows) – John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas and Mardy Fish
· May 17: Toronto, ON (Ryerson’s Mattamy Athletic Centre) – John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas and James Blake
· July 22: Newport, R.I. (International Tennis Hall of Fame) – Lleyton Hewitt, Jim Courier, Tommy Haas and James Blake
· August 19: Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest University) – Players TBA
· August 23, 24: New Haven, CT (Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale) – TBA
· October 4: St. Louis, MO (Chaifetz Arena) – Players TBA
· October 6: Houston, TX (Tudor Fieldhouse) – Players TBA
· October 19: Denver, CO (1stBank Center) – Players TBA
· October 21: Los Angeles, CA (Sherwood Country Club) – Players TBA
Each QQQ Champions Series by Invesco event features special VIP experiences, including hit-with-the-pros opportunities and special back-stage access. All ticket, experience and event information can be found at www.PowerSharesSeries.com.
In 2017, the year-long points championship was decided in the final match of the season when Andy Roddick defeated James Blake in the Los Angeles final at the Sherwood Country Club. Roddick, the 2003 U.S. Open champion and world No. 1, won four PowerShares Series titles in all in 2017, winning in Birmingham, Ala., Chicago, Lincoln, Neb., and Los Angeles. Blake, the former world No. 4 and former U.S. Davis Cup star, won series titles in Charleston, S.C., Winston-Salem, N.C. and in Lynchburg, Va.
In 2016, Mark Philippoussis won the Series points title with 1600 points and tournament titles in Memphis, Tulsa, Newport, Winston-Salem and New Haven. Roddick finished in second place, also earning 1600 points but losing the head-to-head tiebreaker with Philippoussis 5-2, while winning titles in Charleston, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Orlando. Blake finished in third place with 1100 points and tournament titles in Chicago, Portland and Brooklyn.
In 2015, Roddick won the Series points title in his second year of competing on the series with 1,600 points. Roddick won a record eight events Los Angeles, Lincoln, Chicago, Austin, Little Rock, Dallas, Richmond and Minneapolis. Blake finished second in the points rankings with 1,200 points, winning events in Boston and Cincinnati. Philippoussis finished in third with 1,100 points, winning titles in Salt Lake City and Vancouver. The year before in 2014, McEnroe won the points title for the first time in the nine-year history of Champions Series tennis by winning events in Kansas City, Indianapolis, Nashville and Charlotte.
