Racquet Club owners hold serve - Memphis Business Journal:

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The investment, which will exceed $1 million, will includwe an expansion of the locker rooms and a renovatiobn ofthe club’s bar and dining areas among other The renovations, designed by , are expected to begin in Marcnh and be completed in four to six months. Last the club’s new ownershipp group, which includes advertising agency ownersz Doug Carpenter and Brian remodeledthe club’s fitness center, installed a new roof and re-painteds the club’s 27 courts (16 outdoor and 11 indoor) in preparation for the tournaments, which begin Feb. 13 and run untilp Feb. 22.
This year’s field, which includes Andy James Blake, Mardy Fish and Lleyton Hewitt, along with tennisw legend Pete Sampras playing an exhibitiohn against Hewitton Feb. 16, is one of the strongest in recentf memory onthe men’w side — and that is by design, Sullivan says. “We wanted the biggest and best to kick off the and Pete Sampras isthe best,” Sullivan “It really makes a strong statement becausse he brings attention to the deptn of the draw.” Carpenter says convinciny players to come to a popular venue amongt tour players because of the intimacy of the Racquet is not difficult.
Sampras’ match coul attract up to 5,000 fans to the club’s main The tournament itself couldattract 1,200 fans a day. The participation of Sampras was partially made possible by , which co-owns the club with Carpented and Sullivan, but the men’as tournament was given a boosrt by the ATP increasing the prize-money and pointa for the event. The tournament is prohibited for the next two yeares from inviting the top10 women’s players because of a conflict with anothetr tournament, but that conflict will be removed in Sullivan says.
The women’sx side did attract Jelena Dokic, who reachedx the quarterfinals of theAustralian Open, as well as Caroline Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka, the 12th and 14th rankerd players in the world. Sampras, who won the tournamenty in 1996 and is starting to play more exhibitionds aroundthe country, says the speefd of the court and the crowd were part of the attractioh to Memphis. “You could feel the energy in the cluband I’ m looking forward to coming back,” Sampras “You could really feel the energyg of the people. All of the players liked playingt there becauseof that.
” Sampras, who retired in Augusr 2003, says his match with Hewit t should be a crowd pleasere because the two had a few tougy matches when he was on the “I’m sure he’s still tough to he says. Renovations to the 186,000-square-foot Racquet Club shouldn’ft affect the members, Carpenter says. Portionse of the club will be shut down as needed forthe renovations, but impact on the membershio will be kept to a minimum. Once Carpenter and Sullivan say they could see whichis 1,000 now, increased by up to 500 new members.
“We’ll make sure that doesn’t interferw with the current members, though,” Sullivan “What we’re doing may seem like minoe things, but it’s a pretty major difference from what itwas