Samson Cup

Samson Cup
Location Greystone National Park, Lebel Ridge Surface Grass/Outdoors Prize Money k$3,125,000

The Samson Cup is an annual professional tennis tournament held at the Greystone National Park, in Lebel Ridge, Rosletta that was first played in 2000. It is one of the five Tier I events as sanctioned by the National Tennis Club, and is the only one currently played on natural grass courts. It has been held in August for every year since its inaugural one, when it began in the last week of August and finished in the middle of September. Unlike most tournaments, the Samson Cup has remained completely free of corporate sponsorship as it was named in tribute to Larry Lee Samson, acknowledged as the finest grass court player in history in a recent Chronicle survey. While the television ratings and audience numbers have remained high, the Cup is often regarded as the least prestigious of the Tier I events, mostly due to its young age.

Structure

The Cup takes the form of a 64-player, double-elimination tournament with each player required to win three sets to claim victory. It has accepted 64 players every year except the first, when the number was set at 32 – the reasoning being that the MNTC authorities didn’t know how popular the tournament would be – and the awards are the same as for the Olympics, with the top three finishers winning medals. The overall victor also takes home the Cup itself, a tradition which has lead to it being damaged more than once.

Results