STARGAMES · Where the Stars Come to Play

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE             

4 TENNIS LEGENDS • 2 EPIC RIVALRIES • 1 SMASHING EVENT

PETE SAMPRAS vs. ANDRE AGASSI

JOHN McENROE vs. IVAN LENDL

AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN IN THE BNP PARIBAS SHOWDOWN

ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2011

New York, New York – June 29, 2010 — Two of the greatest rivalries in tennis will resume at Madison Square Garden when tennis legends Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl take to the Madison Square Garden tennis court in the 2011 BNP Paribas Showdown scheduled for Monday, February 28, 2011, it was announced today. 

Renewing classic rivalries of the 80’s and 90’s, John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl will compete in a one set pro match (first player to win eight games) followed by a best of three set match between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. The four all-time greats have won a combined 37 Grand Slam Singles titles and 295 ATP Tour events. 

The BNP Paribas Showdown is produced by StarGames and MSG Sports. Tickets will officially go on sale September 27 @ 10:00 a.m. and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden box office and all Ticketmaster outlets.

For more information and an opportunity to sign up for pre-sale alerts prior to tickets going on sale fans can visit www.tennisshowdown.com. 

 “When Roger Federer and I played at The Garden a few years ago, it was an electric night,” said Sampras. “I expect that it will be that way again when Andre and I play.  It should be a lot of fun.”

“To have the opportunity to play Pete at Madison Square Garden is thrilling,” said Agassi.  “Playing in front of the New York fans has always been exciting and I’m sure Pete and I will give them something to cheer about.”

Ivan Lendl added: “I am really looking forward to playing in The Garden again.  I have so many great memories from matches with John there.  It should be a great night for tennis.”

“I have been going to Madison Square Garden since I was 8, and I have played some of my best tennis there,” added McEnroe.  “I am very happy to have the chance to play Ivan Lendl again in The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

Sampras, who began his professional career at the age of 16 in 1988, holds 14 Grand Slam singles titles, the most Wimbledon titles (7), two Australian Open titles, five US Open singles titles, and the record for the most number of weeks as World No. 1 with a total of 286 weeks.

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Sampras debuted in 1988 and played his last professional tournament in 2002 when he captured the US Open, defeating longtime rival Agassi in the final. Sampras walked away with a total of 64 singles titles and a World No. 1 ranking, which he held for a record six consecutive years from 1993 – 1998. Sampras was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2007.

Agassi, the former World No. 1 player, is the only male player in history to have achieved a Career Golden Slam, and, just one of six men who achieved a Career Grand Slam (Rod Laver, Don Budge, Fred Perry, Roy Emerson, and Roger Federer). He retired with eight Grand Slam singles tournaments tying him fifth in Grand Slam singles tournament wins for male players. In addition to his Grand Slam and Olympic singles titles, he won seventeen ATP Masters Series tournaments, a record from 2004-2010. He won the 1990 ATP Tour World Championships and was part of a winning Davis Cup team in 1990 and 1992.

After an emotional final appearance at the 2006 US Open, Agassi retired from professional tennis on September 3, 2006 due to a sustained injury.

Ivan Lendl, a former World No. 1, was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. Lendl captured eight Grand Slam singles titles. He competed in 19 Grand Slam singles finals and reached at least one Grand Slam final for 11 consecutive years, including reaching the US Open final for eight consecutive years.  2010 marks the 25^th anniversary of his first US Open Championship against John McEnroe.

Lendl first attained the World No. 1 ranking on February 28, 1983 and bolstered his claim to the top spot when he defeated John McEnroe in the 1984 French Open final. For much of the next five years, Lendl was the top ranked player until August 1990. He finished four years ranked as the world's top player (1985–1987 and 1989) and was ranked World No. 1 for a total of 270 weeks, breaking the record previously held by Jimmy Connors.  He retired with 94 singles titles overall on the tour and was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2001.

John McEnroe, one of tennis’ best competitors won the US Open crown four times and was victorious at Wimbledon three times for a total of seven Grand Slam singles titles.  He captured nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. He is best remembered for his shot-making artistry and superb volleying; for his famous rivalries with Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors and of course Ivan Lendl.

McEnroe is the older brother of Patrick McEnroe, who is also a former professional tennis player and the present Captain of the United States Davis Cup team, a position in which John served in previously.  McEnroe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.

Since the introduction of professional tennis over eighty years ago, Madison Square Garden has been host to some of the greatest matches and biggest names in the sport. Most notably, from 1979-1999, the Garden served as the site for the men’s and women’s year-end tour championships, featuring legendary players including Billie Jean King, Björn Borg, and Martina Navratilova.

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After an eight year hiatus professional tennis returned to The World’s Most Famous Arena on March 10, 2008 with the sold-out NetJets Showdown between World No. 1 Roger Federer and former Grand Slam record holder Pete Sampras.

The following year women’s tennis returned to The Garden with the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup in 2009 and 2010.  Players who have participated include: Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters, Ana Ivanovic, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic. 

For VIP packages featuring once in a life time meet and greets, photos, tickets, hospitality and exclusive hitting opportunities with the pros, tennis fans may call 1-888-753-8747 for more information about the Insider Experience.

The BNP Paribas Showdown, in partnership with the United States Tennis Association, will continue their efforts to grow youth participation in the sport of tennis through “Tennis Night in America”, a national program which is among the largest ever grass roots initiative the sport has ever seen.

HEAD-TO-HEAD STATS INCLUDED BELOW.

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is the Eurozone’s leading bank in terms of deposits, and one of the 10 most important banks in the world in terms of net banking income, equity capital and market value. Furthermore, it is one of the 6 strongest banks in the world according to Standard & Poor's. With a presence in 85 countries and more than 205,000 employees, 165,200 of which in Europe and 15,000 in the United States, BNP Paribas is a global-scale European leader in financial services. It holds key positions in its three activities: Retail banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking. BNP Paribas also has a significant presence in the United States and strong positions in Asia and the emerging markets. This year, BNP Paribas celebrates its 37th anniversary of its partnership with tennis. Since 1973, BNP Paribas has been actively involved with the sport and has consistently strengthened its commitment since then to support it both locally and worldwide.  BNP Paribas has historically been a privileged partner in all aspects of tennis: as an Official Sponsor of the French Open for 37 years, and a sponsor of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas since 2001, of the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas since 2005, and of the BNP Paribas Masters since 1986, as well as other major international tournaments including the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, WTA Bank of the West Classic in California, Master Series Monte Carlo, BNP Paribas Women’s Open in Strasbourg and Grand Prix de Lyon.

MSG Sports owns and operates several premier sports franchises, including the NBA’s New York Knicks, NHL’s New York Rangers, WNBA’s New York Liberty, and the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL). As well as promotes, produces and/or partners on a broad array of world class live sporting events, including world championship boxing, college and high school basketball, track and field, mixed martial arts, gymnastics, tennis, professional bull riding and others.

Madison Square Garden is a fully-integrated sports, entertainment and media business. The company is comprised of three business segments: MSG Sports, MSG Entertainment and MSG Media, which are strategically aligned to work together to drive its overall business, and built on a foundation of iconic venues and compelling content that MSG creates, produces, presents and/or distributes through its programming networks and other media assets. MSG Sports consists of the New York Knicks (NBA), the New York Rangers (NHL), the New York Liberty (WNBA), and the Hartford Wolf Pack (American Hockey League). MSG Entertainment is a leader in managing and creating concerts and events at Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, the Beacon Theatre, the legendary Chicago Theatre, the Wang Theatre in Boston, and produces the Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring the Radio City Rockettes. MSG Media is comprised of leading television networks MSG, MSG Plus, MSG HD and MSG Plus HD, as well as MSG Interactive, which oversees all company wireless and online initiatives, and Fuse and Fuse HD, the national television network dedicated exclusively to music. The company owns and operates the Madison Square Garden arena complex located in the heart of the New York metropolitan area.  More information is available at www.thegarden.com.

StarGames, LLC (www.stargamesinc.com) is a fully integrated sports marketing, management and entertainment company based outside of Boston, MA. Now in its 16th year, StarGames represents current and former professional athletes, produces original content for mass media distribution, operates its own broadband television channels and produces live and made for television events. StarGames orchestrated the return of tennis to Madison Square Garden with the 2008 NetJets Showdown and the BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup; with tennis legend Ivan Lendl, launched the Champions Academy in Florida for elite junior athletes and most recently produced the Caesars Tennis Classic in Atlantic City, NJ.  StarGames partners on various projects with Lagardere Unlimited which represents the international television rights for the BNP Paribas Showdown.

CONTACTS:      Dan Schoenberg, MSG (212) 465-6367 – daniel.schoenberg@thegarden.com  

Larry Torres, MSG (212) 631-5178 – larry.torres@thegarden.com  

Jessica Smyser, StarGames (781) 224-9655 - jessica@stargamesinc.com

Pete Holtermann, HolterMedia (847) 380-4124 – holtermedia@gmail.com 

Tom LaDue, USTA (914) 697-2352 – LaDue@usta.com

HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS

Sampras leads Agassi 20-14

Lendl leads McEnroe 21-15