Dave Henry (Laramie WY) Takes the Court with Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and John McEnroe in Denver
The Pepsi Center in Denver saw some great action (not basketball but tennis!) on November 29th for the Denver leg of the PowerShares Tennis Championships. In the first semi-final match, John McEnroe defeated Jim Courier 6-4. For the second semi-final match David Henry – that’s correct – Wyoming’s own, David Henry of Laramie, took the court along with Andrea Agassi and Michael Chang.
David is a USTA Official and was selected to be the Baseline Linesman for the 2nd semi-final match of the Denver PowerShares event on November 29th. Chang defeated Agassi in that one set match 7-6 (9-7). But David was not done – on to the finals. David was assigned a “long line” which is the center service line and then out to a side line for the final match between McEnroe and Chang. McEnroe prevailed by defeating Chang 8-6.
David commented on his time on court with the legends – “It was wonderful to be there and share the court with some of the greatest players ever. Agassi is my all-time favorite player and to be on-court with him was unforgettable. Looking in the eyes of Johnny Mac, just before he beat Chang in the final, was incredible as well. The entire night was a dream come true for me. I’ll have a smile on my face from this for a long, long time.”
Why should you become a USTA Official in Wyoming? Because you might get on court with a "legend" some day -- or maybe more than one "legend." GREAT job David!
The next day the matches went to California for the final PowerShares event of the 2012 season. Here is how it all went down.
NEW YORK, NY (December 3, 2012) – In a hotly contested race, Jim Courier held on to finish the 2012 PowerShares Series season in the top spot and claim the first place winner’s share of $500,000. Andre Agassi finished strong to win three of the final four events and vault past John McEnroe to take second place and capture $350,000 but wasn’t able to get past Courier, who edged Agassi by 100 points. John McEnroe finished in third place and took home $150,000.
“To finish number one on tour with the array of top players we have on the PowerShares Series is extremely satisfying,” said Courier. “Andre really stepped it up at the end of the season and I was a bit lucky to get out to a good lead before he got hot. It’s time to take a breather now but I’ve already got my eye on the 2013 season and how I will need to prepare to defend the crown.”
Courier moved into the #1 position in early November with back-to-back victories in Tampa and Atlanta, defeating McEnroe in the finals of both events. This was after he had gotten off to the early lead in the Series with a victory in the first event of the season in Surprise, Arizona. Although both Courier and Agassi each won three times, the difference in points came from Courier’s additional runner-up finish in Las Vegas. Agassi claimed victories in San Jose, Las Vegas and Anaheim and had semifinal losses in his other two PowerShares Series appearances.
Agassi and McEnroe finished the season tied with 1400 points each but Agassi won the tiebreaker with a 2-1 head-to-head record against McEnroe this season, which was decided in the last event in Anaheim where Agassi defeated McEnroe in the semifinals, 6-2.
McEnroe – the only player to appear in all 12 PowerShares Series events this season – was exceptionally consistent all season, reaching nine finals and lifting the crown in Chicago and Denver. Pete Sampras – the #1 ranked player on the 2011 Champions Series – ended up in fourth place this season. Pat Rafter, who won a pair of titles in Philadelphia and New York in his only two appearances of the season – was fifth.
The PowerShares Series rankings are determined by totaling the points earned from the best five tournament results of each player.
FINAL 2012 PowerShares Series Standings Points Bonus Pool Prize Money
1 Courier 1500 $500,000
2 *Agassi 1400 $350,000
3 McEnroe 1400 $150,000
4 Sampras 1100
5 Rafter 800
6 Chang 700
7 Lendl 400
8 Martin 200
Wilander 200
* Agassi wins tiebreaker on head-to-head record