With 19 Grand Slam singles titles between them, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi and Mats Wilander headline the second-annual Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships in Surprise, Arizona, October 8-11.  They will be joined by Mark Philippoussis, Wayne Ferreira, Aaron Krickstein, Jimmy Arias, and Mikael Pernfors as the eight-player field competes for $150,000 in the four-day, round-robin tournament.

The CTCA Championships at Surprise is the seventh of eight events on the 2009 Outback Champions Series, the global tennis circuit for champion tennis players age 30 and over.

"The players associated with the Champions Cup Series are all thrilled to finally have a competitive forum in the United States where they can show off their talents and continue to do what they do best -- play high quality, competitive tennis," said Jim Courier, founder of InsideOut Sports & Entertainment.

Andre Agassi, 61 career titles (8 Grand Slams) is the only player to achieve the “Golden Slam.” Mats Wilander, 40 career titles (8 Grand Slams) is the youngest man in history to win four grand slams by the age of 20. Jim Courier, 29 career titles (4 Grand Slams). Wayne Ferreira, 26 career titles, holds the male record for most consecutive Grand Slam appearances. Mark Philippoussis, a Wimbledon and US Open finalist. Jimmy Arias, at age 15, was the youngest player to achieve a world ranking. Aaron Krickstein, with 9 career titles was the youngest player to reach the world Top 10 at age 17. Mikael Pernfors, French Open Finalist.

Founded in 2005, the Outback Champions Series features some of the biggest names in tennis over the last 25 years, including 14-time major tournament champion Pete Sampras, four-time U.S. Open champion John McEnroe, two-time French and Australian Open champion Jim Courier and others. To be eligible to compete on the Outback Champions Series, players must have reached at least a major singles final, been ranked in the top five in the world or played singles on a championship Davis Cup team.

Matches are played in the best of three set format, with the 3rd set consisting of a Champions tie-break, defined as the 1st player to reach 10 points with a margin of 2 points.

– Tournament Session Schedule –

Thursday, Oct. 8:

Session 1 @ 7 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 9:

Pro Am @ 4 p.m.

Session 2 @ 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 10:

Kids Day @ 10 a.m.

Session 3 @ Noon

Session 4 @ 5 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 11:

3rd Place Match @ Noon

Championship Match follows

Individual session tickets are $45 for gold seating and $35 for silver. Series Packages are available and include all five sessions, invitation to a player meet-and-greet and a 10% savings from individually purchased tickets.

Tickets may be purchased at the Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex, 14469 W. Paradise Lane. They are also available online at www.surpriseaz.com/tennis.

Arguing with officials is nothing new in tennis.

John McEnroe in his day was, arguably, the king of on-court discrepancies. Not to be forgotten is Ilie Nastase's 18-minute boycott during the 1979 U.S. Open disputing a line call by the chair umpire. The tradition continues today with Andy Roddick, whose no slacker at giving a linesperson what for.

But what transpired Saturday night at the U.S. Open women's semi-final between Serena Williams and an U.S. Open official has taken things to a new level. Regardless of the validity of the call that claimed Serena made a foot fault, Williams' 10-second berating of the official goes beyond the realm of poor conduct.

"I swear to God I'm (expletive) going to take this (expletive) ball and shove it down your (expletive) throat, you hear that? I swear to God," Williams said to the official.

The context: Kim Clijsters lead Serena one set to love, with Serena serving at 15-30 in the second to send the set into a tiebreaker. Serena lost her temper after the lineswoman called a foot fault, resulting in a double-fault. That moved Clijsters one point from victory. Williams then was penalized a point for a second outburst towards the linesperson. Because it happened to come on match point, it ended the semifinal with Clijsters winning 6-4, 7-5.

Williams was fined $10,000 Sunday for unsportsmanlike conduct and could face further penalties -- including a higher fine and a possible suspension -- for what U.S. Open tournament director Jim Curley described as her "threatening manner."

After what I'm sure was a good deal of pressure from her team and corporate sponsors, Serena issued this amendment on Monday to her previous press release:

Hey guys!!!
I want to amend my press statement of yesterday, and want to make it clear as possible — I want to sincerely apologize FIRST to the lines woman, Kim Clijsters, the USTA, and tennis fans everywhere for my inappropriate outburst. I’m a woman of great pride, faith and integrity, and I admit when I’m wrong.
I need to make it clear to all young people that I handled myself inappropriately and it’s not the way to act — win or lose, good call or bad call, in any sport, in any manner.
I like to lead by example. We all learn from experiences both good and bad. I will learn and grow from this, and be a better person as a result.
Xxxx,
S

Although she has finally and offically apologized, her behavior begs the question, "Should Serena be suspended from professional tennis for her unsportsmanlike conduct?"