Gilbert, Krickstein, Arias play exhibition
February 27, 2014
BOCA RATON, Fla. — Brad Gilbert, Aaron Krickstein and Jimmy Arias played on St. Andrews Country Club Stadium Court during a complimentary tennis exhibition for club members as a precursor to the Delray ATP Champions Tour Event. Jimmy Arias, formerly ranked #5 in the world and renowned Tennis Channel commentator entertained the crowd as MC /Chair Umpire with his humorous, light hearted banter while also playing in the doubles match.
The crowd of 500 watched the tennis exhibition at St. Andrews Stadium Court where Krickstein, Director of Tennis at the private country club, defeated Gilbert in a singles match before teaming up with fellow St. Andrews pro Simon Evelyn in the doubles match to defeat Gilbert and Arias.
Ed Rice, Tennis Chair of the Board of Governors of St. Andrews Country Club said, “Aaron does a great job putting together memorable tennis exhibitions for our members. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to be able to watch these former world top ten ranked tennis professionals from the best seats, right in your own backyard.”
Just days after the exclusive tennis exhibition, St. Andrews Country Club members filled the stands at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center on February 15 and 16 to watch ATP Champions Tour matches between Aaron Krickstein and 7 time Grand Slam Champion and former world #4 Mats Wilander, former Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanisevic and former Top 10 player Mikael Pernfors. Krickstein played well in his personal matches and defeated Wilander and Pernfors in straight sets but lost a 3rd set tiebreak to Goran Ivanisevic.
Krickstein, formerly ranked as #6 in the world, is a nine-time ATP tour titlist and still holds the record as the youngest player to win an ATP Tour event at age 16, and the youngest in the world top ten at age 17. During his career he had victories over Sampras, Agassi, Becker, Edberg, McEnroe, Chang and Lendl, among many others. When not competing, Krickstein is the Director of Tennis at St. Andrews Country Club where for 13 years he has enjoyed the opportunity to help adults and kids improve their tennis games.
“I want to thank Brad, Jimmy and Simon for a great night of tennis at St. Andrews,” said Krickstein. “I also want to thank the St. Andrews members who attended the tennis exhibition and the ATP Champions matches over the past weekend, specifically the Wilander match on Saturday night. The commitment to building an active tennis program at St. Andrews is evident from the growing participation and support each year.”