Indian Wells: Djokovic, Sampras, Haas and McEnroe step in for Rafa
Tournament director Tommy Haas made a virtue of necessity in Indian Wells: With a celebrity double with Novak Djokovic, Pete Sampras and John McEnroe.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Mar 17, 2019, 09:12 am
You rarely see Pete Sampras on the ATP tour. The 14-time Grand Slam champion has made himself rare in the stands of the tennis world, a job as a super coach is out of the question for the American legend due to the travel burden. In Indian Wells, however, Sampras has appeared throughout the tournament week. And unexpectedly made a small comeback on one of the largest courts in the tennis circus on Saturday.
After it became known that Rafael Nadal would not be able to compete against Roger Federer in his semi-final, tournament director Tommy Haas had to take action. "We made a few calls and Novak said he would come over," said the long-time German number one.
“Pete was there for the Raonic-Thiem match anyway, and John is here because he'll be announcing tomorrow. Everyone just asked: How can we help? ”Now that Sampras, Djokovic, Haas and McEnroe offered the audience a short set of tennis entertainment. And under amusing circumstances: Actor Jon Lovitz acted as chair umpire, basically leaving no ball uncommented.