Farmers Classic to Debut Super Sessions
May 26, 2011
LOS ANGELES — To deliver added value and convenience to tennis fans of the Farmers Classic, presented by Mercedes-Benz, the 2011 tournament will begin early round Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday sessions two hours later. The 2011 tournament will be held July 25-31 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA.
These Super Sessions, starting at 2:00 PM, will allow the Farmers Classic to showcase more key matches, in prime time, when more fans can enjoy featured players in the Straus Stadium.
“Adjusting the early days of the tournament to utilize super sessions will add more value to our patrons by showcasing more matches within each session,” said Tournament Director Bob Kramer. “With a 28-player singles field and a 16-team doubles draw, we are able to make our feature matches more accessible and convenient to fans by shifting things later in the day.”
Thursday, Friday and Saturday of the tournament will once again feature two individually ticketed sessions, while the singles and doubles finals will both be contested during the same session on Sunday, July 31.
Headlining the early player commitments for the 2011 event is Juan Martin del Potro, winner of the 2008 tournament and the 2009 US Open champion.
On Friday in Paris, del Potro will battle Novak Djokovic in the French Open third round. Djokovic comes into the match undefeated in 2011 and riding a 41-match winning streak while del Potro is 29-6 in 2011 with two titles.
The singles final of the 2010 Farmers Classic presented by Mercedes-Benz featured two Top 20 players as Santa Monica’s Sam Querrey won his second straight title by defeating three-time Grand Slam finalist Andy Murray. In doubles, Camarillo natives Bob and Mike Bryan won their record sixth Los Angeles title.
Once again the Farmers Classic, presented by Mercedes-Benz, will benefit the Southern California Tennis Association. In 2010, the tournament and associated special events raised more than $500,000 for the SCTA and other charities.
Season tickets and mini-plan tickets for the 85th annual Farmers Classic presented by Mercedes-Benz are on sale now. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit FarmersClassic.com/Tickets or call (310) 824-1010 ext. 251.
ABOUT THE FARMERS CLASSIC PRESENTED BY MERCEDES-BENZ
The Farmers Classic, presented by Mercedes-Benz, has been played every year since 1927, making it the longest-running annual professional sporting event in Los Angeles. Played since 1984 at the LA Tennis Center on the campus of UCLA, the tournament is part of the Olympus US Open Series, the six-week summer tennis season linking 10 ATP World Tour and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour events to the US Open, culminating each week with back-to-back men’s and womens finals every Sunday afternoon. Players battle for $40 million, including a chance for bonus prize money at the US Open. Proceeds from the Farmers Classic Presented by Mercedes-Benz benefit the grassroots programs of the non-profit Southern California Tennis Association (SCTA) and UCLA. The SCTA offers programs, leagues, and tournaments involving 300,000 juniors and 50,000 adults and seniors. Information on tickets and the tournament can be found at FarmersClassic.com or by calling 310-824-1010.
ABOUT FARMERS INSURANCE GROUP OF COMPANIES
Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is the country’s third-largest insurer of both private Personal Lines passenger automobile and homeowners insurance, and also provides a wide range of other insurance and financial services products. Farmers is proud to serve 10 million households with more than 20 million individual policies across all 50 states through the efforts of over 50,000 exclusive and independent agents and nearly 24,000 employees.
Farmers is a trade name and may refer to Farmers Group, Inc. or the Farmers Exchanges, as the case may be. Farmers Group, Inc., a management and holding company, along with its subsidiaries, is wholly owned by the Zurich Financial Services Group. The Farmers Exchanges are three reciprocal insurers (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange), including their subsidiaries and affiliates, owned by their policyholders, and managed by Farmers Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information about Farmers, visit our Web site at farmers.com or at Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.