FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JACKSONVILLE, Fla (April 4, 2006) -- On Tuesday Tennis-X.com, the web's premier tennis news and opinion website, premiered the 2006 Tennis-X.com Combined Senior Rankings, a cumulative ranking for senior tour players combining results from the competing Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions in Europe, and the Outback Champions Series in the U.S.
"Senior players jump between the two tours so it makes sense," says Tennis-X.com Senior Editor Luke Johnson. "With the cooperation of both tours, the Tennis-X.com Combined Senior Rankings will bring together fans on both continents to follow the race to see who finishes as the top senior player in 2006."
Former No. 1s Jim Courier and Marcelo Rios are tied atop the inaugural rankings for the week of April 3, with Courier winning the first Outback event of the year in Naples, and Rios capturing the Doha crown on the Merrill Lynch tour in his senior tour debut.
After winning at Doha, the top-ranked Rios "called out" the No. 5-ranked John McEnroe, who last year said he was looking forward to facing some of the new young blood on the senior tour.
"I'm looking forward to playing McEnroe," Rios said. "That's one of my goals. He has been talking a lot so I'm waiting for him to come to play me."
The current Top 10 on the Tennis-X.com Combined Senior Rankings contains five former No. 1s, and eight Grand Slam winners.
The next Merrill Lynch event is scheduled this week, April 6-9 in Doha, and the next Outback event for April 27-30 in Boston.
2006 TENNIS-X.COM COMBINED SENIOR RANKINGS
(Top 10, through April 2)
1T. Jim Courier (400 pts.)
1T. Marcelo Rios (400)
3. Pat Cash (310)
4. Cedric Pioline (250)
5T. Richard Krajicek (200)
5T. John McEnroe (200)
7T. Thomas Muster (125)
7T. Mikael Pernfors (125)
9T. Sergi Bruguera (80)
9T. Aaron Krickstein (80)
9T. Henri Leconte (80)
9T. Mats Wilander (80)
Contact: media@tennis-x.com
