The unveiling of the new tennis stadium before the 2011 China Open will take place on September 30 and the best way to let the world know about this is to stage a memorable showdown of two of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras of United States will play against two-time Grand Slam winner Marat Safin of Russian on the aforementioned date. Safin earned his first Grand Slam title at the 2000 US Open after beating Sampras in the final. His second triumph was at the 2005 Australian Open. The Russian enjoys a huge following in China. It was at the China Open in 2009 where he officially ended his professional career. He lost to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals.
The new center court at the National Tennis Center in Beijing is expected to be finished by August and can seat up to 15,000 spectators.
