PowerShares Series Tennis

The PowerShares Series, the North American tennis circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30 is returning to Lincoln! Native Nebraskan Andy Roddick headlines the event in Lincoln and will be joined by John McEnroe, James Blake and Michael Chang. 

Michael Chang will replace an injured Jim Courier. Chang, the 1989 French Open champion and member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, will play four-time U.S. Open champion John McEnroe in the first one-set semifinal followed by native Nebraskan Andy Roddick taking on his former U.S. Davis Cup teammate James Blake in the second semifinal of the evening. The one-set championship final will then be played between the two winners. For ticket and VIP packing, including "hit with the pros" opportunities are available at www.PowerSharesSeries.com.

Roddick, born in Omaha, Nebraska, won the PowerShares Series title in 2015, also held at Pinnacle Bank Arena, defeating Blake in the final 6-1. "I was really excited when I heard PowerShares Series was returning to my home state of Nebraska. I can't wait to play once again in front of all my Cornhusker fans,” said Roddick, a life-long Nebraska Cornhuskers fan.

During his playing days on the ATP Tour, Roddick was never shy of his allegiance to the University of Nebraska and its football team, often being seen wearing Nebraska hats or shirts. Roddick often talks about playing all of his tennis matches in a Nebraska hat from age 8 to 12 ("That smelled fantastic at the end of it," he quipped.) and growing up, having Nebraska wall-papering in his bathroom.

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.

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. 

*Player list subject to change