Legendary Swede Bjorn Borg will be making his first competitive appearance in the territory later this year when he takes part in the US$84,000 NatWest Markets Classic at the Hong Kong Country Club.
The 39-year-old Borg will be joined by Romanian bad boy Ilie Nastase, American Stan Smith, Iranian Mansour Bahrami and eight other stars of the past in Asia's first ATP Seniors' tournament, from November 20-23.
Promoters, The Quintus Group, have a list of 12 other players who will be invited to take part including three-time Wimbledon champion John McEnroe, Australian John Newcombe and American Roscoe Tanner.
Hong Kong fans will be able to share in the nostalgia with Randall King, a former local number one, joining the fray.
Former world number one Jimmy Connors, one of the key figures in getting a senior circuit off the ground, is not on the list, however.
Peter Worth, director of Quintus Group, explained: 'We thought Borg was the main one we wanted to invite.
'We will be making future announcements on who else will be playing.
'There are about four or five other players who are more or less confirmed.' King was a stalwart for Hong Kong tennis during the 1970s and early 1980s, playing the anchor role in many of the territory's Davis Cup campaigns.
'I'm glad I will be able to play,' said King, a former banker who has recently opened a meat cold storage warehouse in China.
'I like competition and the format is not physically demanding, so I hope I can do well.' The tournament is split into three sections - doubles, shoot-out and singles.
The 12 players will be paired off into six doubles teams and play in two groups, with the group winners reaching the final.
In the shoot-out, six over-45 players will compete in a knockout singles event in a best of three tiebreak format.
The over-35s will play two singles sets with a 12-point tiebreak deciding the match.
Borg, who won Wimbledon five times in a row between 1976 and 1980, played here in an exhibition with the late American Vitas Gerulaitis 15 years ago.
He retired from top-class tennis at the age of 26, but made an unsuccessful comeback two years ago.
The Swede now plays regularly on the Seniors' Tour.
Nastase was in Hong Kong several years ago to play in an exhibition tournament held in conjunction with the Marlboro Championships.
The Bucharest-born 49-year-old, who resides in New York, has two Grand Slam titles to his credit at the 1972 US Open and 1973 French Open.
Nastase, in fact, was beaten by Smith in a five-set Wimbledon final in 1972.
Bahrami is an entertaining addition to the lineup.
The Iranian is one of the most successful players on the Seniors' Tour, with US$161,000 in prize money earnings.
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