Arias in 1st Senior Final vs. Courier at Seniors Grand Cayman

In Sunday's final, Arias will face fellow American Jim Courier, a 6-2, 7-5 winner over Mark Philippoussis in Saturday's other semifinal match.

Arias will be playing in his first Outback Champions Series final in his 14th tournament appearance since the circuit began in 2005. Grand Cayman has been the site of his best success on the Series as five of his nine career match victories on the circuit have been at The Residences at the Ritz Carlton, Grand Cayman. Last year, Arias posted his previous best showing on the circuit, finishing in third place, highlighted by his first career tournament-match victory over John McEnroe. Arias has strong ties with Grand Cayman and the Ritz-Carlton, playing in various exhibition matches, pro-ams and clinics at the resort and on the island since 2000.

Against Cash, Arias started slowly and played nervously as Cash's aggressive play earned him the first set after a service break in the sixth game. Early in the second set, Cash began having trouble with a pulled quad muscle, which wore on him as the match lengthened. After trailing 1-4, Arias pulled even to 4-4 and broke Cash in the 12th game of the second set to close out the set. In the Champions Tie-breaker, played in lieu of a third set, Arias jumped to a 6-0 lead, then nervously held on to win the first-to-ten-points tie-breaker 10-8.

Arias said he had to deal with many different emotions and scenarios during the marathon match, feeling that he was first out of the match, before later trying not to get too overconfident with Cash hobbling on one leg for much of the last set and the decisive Champions Tie-Breaker.

"I could see that he was not moving 100 percent and I was thinking just get it (the ball) in," said Arias, who achieved a career-high ATP ranking of No. 5 in 1984. "Once, I thought I lost and when down 6-4, 4-1 and I wrote myself off. I started playing a little bit better and once you get on a roll sometimes you just keep going."

"I was severely hampered by my leg," said Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion. "I couldn't really move it but I was hitting the ball well so I managed to get a jump on him. Unfortunately, at the end, he was able to hit enough balls around the court to move me around and out of position. I couldn't run. I was able to do enough in the wind to cause some errors."

Courier, who won the inaugural event in Grand Cayman last year over Wayne Ferreira in the final, will be playing in his 12th career Outback Champions Series final and will be seeking his eighth career title. Against Philippoussis, Courier used his trademark inside-out forehand to patiently dictate play from the baseline and prevent Philippoussis from rushing the net, where he is most comfortable. After exchanging early service breaks, Courier broke Philippoussis again in the fifth and seventh games before serving out the first set 6-2. In the second set, both players held serve before Courier broke through to close out the match in the 12th game of the set, benefiting from Philippoussis' double-fault on match point.

"I came into this match with a little bit of trepidation because I know what Mark is capable of," said Courier of his semifinal win. "I know how powerful he is and when he is on, there is virtually nothing you can do to stop him. I was hoping to just go out there and get myself into the match. I was down early, two love and then I kinda of fought my way back into it. I got a few chances and a few things went my way in that first set. The second set was a lot closer and a real battle."

Courier said he was looking forward to the challenge of another Outback Champions Series final, which will be his first day match of the week.

"Jimmy and I are very familiar with each others games, we play very similar styles," said Courier. "Both of us look for our forehand and both of us are pretty quick around the court and crafty. So I expect to see a lot of big forehands on both sides of the net. As long as I take care of my serve, I'll have chances, but he is obviously playing well."