New prestigious team event between America and Europe to be held annually

For the first time ever a team event will be played between the two leading continents in tennis. America and Europe will face each other in Penang, Malaysia, on the 14th to 16th of November 2008.

Kings of Tennis will be held annually and only players to have been ranked as world number ones in Men’s Singles are eligible for play.

“When I first heard about the idea, I got immediately excited. It is time for a new big tournament in tennis and I believe it is going to be very successful”, says American Captain, Roy Emerson.

Emerson has selected a strong team consisting of John McEnroe, Marcelo Rios and Pete Sampras. European Captain, Ilie Nastase, has faith in Bjorn Borg, Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander.

“For sure this is no exhibition event. We are eager to bring the Cup to America and we will certainly not be easy to beat”, says Pete Sampras, winner of a record 14 Grand Slam singles titles.

The two captains also have the luxury to choose one wild card player each to their teams. The two names will be announced well in time before the event.

“I am considering many options, but for sure it is going to be a former world number one and Grand Slam winner”, says European Captain, Ilie Nastase.

The objective of King’s of Tennis is to create the first, biggest and best annual team event for the World number ones in tennis. The first year eight former stars will take part, but in the future, active dominants of the game will also battle out for individual and team glory.

“I am proud to be a part of the first European team. I think we have a good chance to win. One of the key matches will definitely be me against McEnroe”, says Swedish legend, Bjorn Borg.

Kings of Tennis will be played over three days and will consist of a number of singles and doubles matches. The singles matches will be played in best of three sets with a Match Tiebreak in lieu of the final set. The doubles matches will be played in the same format, except for the no-ad scoring which will be employed.