Start spreading the news ... New York, New York. The BNP Paribas Showdown has made it there and continues to make it everywhere with the most famous sports arena in the world, Madison Square Garden.
On March 4,...
Start spreading the news ... New York, New York. The BNP Paribas Showdown has made it there and continues to make it everywhere with the most famous sports arena in the world, Madison Square Garden.
On March 4, 2013 for the sixth straight year the stars will gather for a nite of excitement, wonderful tennis, fun and an event that will kick you know what. Rafael Nadal will take on Juan Martin Del Potro and Serena Williams will play Victoria Azarenka and it promises to bring the house down.
Other than Serena, none of the other players have ever played at the Garden and it is sure to be a memorable experience because all have heard and know about the places’ iconic status. And it will be the first time New York fans will get to see Nadal play since September 2011 because injury stopped him from being at the US Open.
“While I am disappointed to be missing a trip to New York for the US Open I am happy to announce that I will be coming to New York to play at Madison Square Garden on March 4,” said Nadal. “New York has many great memories for me and I am really looking forward to playing with Juan Martin in front of all of the New York tennis fans that night."
The Madison Square Garden Arena has been host to some of the greatest tennis matches and biggest names in the sport for more than 80 years. The men’s and women’s year-end tour championships took place at The Garden from 1977-1989 and 1979 - 2000 respectively and featured the likes of Björn Borg, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.
With BNP Paribas sponsoring the event and StarGames with MSG Sports the promoters again, it promises to be a showpiece on the New York social scene as well for the month of March.
“It is hard to believe that this is the sixth year of the BNP Paribas Showdown which has now established itself on the tennis calendar as one of the most entertaining nights of the year. We are honored to have Rafa, Serena, Juan Martin and Victoria join a list of only the very best in tennis who have played at the Showdown. It promises to be another ‘must see’ event for New York tennis fans,” said Jerry Solomon, Executive Producer and President of StarGames.
With the line-up of players for next year’s event the promoters have maintained the incredible standard of hosting only Grand Slam champions. New York is a city that only accepts the best and that’s what they are getting.
“We at BNP Paribas are delighted to be the title sponsor of this terrific event in the heart of NYC for the 5th consecutive year,” said Michele Sicard, BNP Paribas Managing Director of Corporate Communications. “It keeps getting better every year and we look forward to another fantastic BNP Paribas Showdown featuring some of the best tennis players in the world.”
This “Tennis Night in America” has annually marked the start of the tennis season in the United States and begins a month of professional events that continues with the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and then onto Miami.
The hardware these four great players have collected in their careers is staggering – 27 Grand Slam titles and seven Olympic medals including five gold is just the start and counting.
image courtesy StarGames getty images/mike stobe
