LINCOLN, Neb. — Native Nebraskan Andy Roddick did not disappoint his local Cornhusker fans Friday night beating John McEnroe 6-3 in the one-set championship match to win the PowerShares Champions Cup at the Pinnacle Bank Arena.
“It’s always great to be back in Nebraska,” said Roddick after winning his 17th career title on the PowerShares Series, the North American tennis circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30.
Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska and has always enthusiastically shown his love for the state and its famous University of Nebraska Cornhusker football team often seen wearing Nebraska hats and shirts during his career on the ATP World Tour. He said as a young junior tennis player, from age 8 to 12, he played every match in a Nebraska Cornhusker baseball hat.
In 2015, Roddick encouraged the PowerShares Series to try and hold an event in Lincoln, Nebraska, which eventually came to fruition and Roddick won the event, also at the Pinnacle Bank Arena. Friday’s event marked the second time the champions series circuit has been played in Lincoln.
The win in Lincoln was Roddick’s third this season on the PowerShares Series and keeps him in the No. 1 position on the circuit’s rankings. When asked following his final-round win over McEnroe what he thought his chances were of capturing the season-long points standings title, Roddick quipped, “If I could play all my matches in Nebraska, I’d probably be doing even better.”
McEnroe was also the final-round opponent of Roddick’s during his previous two tournament wins this season – beating the 58-year-old four-time U.S. Open champion 6-4 in the final in Birmingham, Alabama in April and notching a 7-5 win in the final of Chicago in May.
To advance into the final, Roddick had little trouble with James Blake, beating his former Davis Cup teammate 6-1, the same score in which he beat Blake in the 2015 final in Lincoln. McEnroe defeated Michael Chang 6-2 in the other semifinal in what was McEnroe 150th career singles match on the PowerShares Series, dating back to 2004.
Roddick holds the PowerShares Series rankings lead with 1600 points and is followed by Blake with 1200 points and Mardy Fish with 1000 points. McEnroe’s runner-up showing moves him into a fourth-place tie with Mark Philippoussis with 800 points, while Jim Courier and Michael Chang rank No. 6 each with 300 points.
Each PowerShares Series event features two one-set semifinal matches and a one-set championship match and, for the third year, players make their own line calls with assistance of electronic line-calling.
The remaining PowerShares Series for this season schedule with player fields are listed below and ticket, schedule and player information can be found at www.PowerSharesSeries.com;
October 16 – Lynchburg, Va. – John McEnroe, James Blake, Andy Roddick, Michael Chang
October 22 – Los Angeles, Calif. – Andy Roddick, James Blake, Michael Chang, Mardy Fish
In 2016, Mark Philippoussis won the PowerShares 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. James Blake finished in third place with 1100 points and tournament titles in Chicago, Portland and Brooklyn.
In 2015, Andy Roddick won the PowerShares 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. Mark 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.
Results from the 2017 season are as follows:
March 30 – Toronto – F: Mark Philippoussis def. Andy Roddick 7-6(5); SF: Philippoussis def. John McEnroe 7-5, Roddick def. Mardy Fish 6-3
April 1 – Charleston, S.C. – F: James Blakedef. Mark Philippoussis 7-6 (10-8); SF: Blake def. McEnroe 6-4, Philippoussis def. Roddick 6-4
April 28 – Birmingham, Ala. – F: Andy Roddick def. John McEnroe 6-4; SF: Roddick def. Mardy Fish 7-6(4), McEnroe def. Jim Courier 6-4
May 17 – Chicago – F: Andy Roddick def. John McEnroe 7-5; SF: Roddick def. Mark Philippoussis 7-6 (7), McEnroe def. Jim Courier 7-6(4)
July 23 – Newport, RI – F: Mardy Fish def. Andy Roddick 7-5; SF: Fish def. Courier 6-2, Roddick def. James Blake 6-2
August 20 – Winston-Salem, N.C. – F: James Blake def. Andy Roddick 6-4; SF: Blake def. Mardy Fish 6-3, Roddick def. Michael Chang 6-2
August 24-25 – New Haven, CT – F: Mardy Fish def. James Blake 6-4, SF: Fish def. Mark Philippoussis 6-4, Blake def. Michael Chang 7-5
October 6 – Lincoln, Neb. – F: Andy Roddick def. John McEnroe 6-3, SF: Andy Roddick def. James Blake 6-1, John McEnroe def. Michael Chang 6-2