2010 AEGON Masters Tennis: Patrick Rafter vs. Goran Ivanisevic - Semifinal Preview
It is the second last day of the season finale event and the twelve are now down to four. With the semi finals underway at the 2010 AEGON Masters Tennis, the champions are in the last stages of their season. The season finale event
of the ATP Champions Tour is currently being held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
The first semi final of the day, scheduled in the afternoon, was held between American Todd Martin and local Tim Henman. Martin moved into the semis after his quarterfinal opponent, Cedric Pioline retired due to a calf injury.
Henman, on the other hand, moved into the semis after thrashing Rankings no.1 Thomas Enqvist in a Champions Tiebreak (CT).
Playing in the evening, Aussie Patrick Rafter meets Croat Goran Ivanisevic for their semi final match at the event.
Defending champion, Rafter was seeded first in the event and has practically sailed into the semis. Having met compatriot Pat Cash and Martin in the round robin stage, Rafter moved into the quarterfinal round with a perfect 2-0
mark. In the quarters, Rafter met and defeated Leconte in a CT. With one set win each, the match entered the CT and rushing to 10 points with the loss of only 3, Rafter secured a spot for himself in the semis.
Playing in the fourth event this season, Rafter has won two finals this season. His first final was at the season opener at Delray Beach and then again at the inaugural Champions Downunder event last month.
Set against a strong contender, Ivanisevic also enjoys a 3-0 mark in the event so far. He brushed aside Tim Henman and Younes El Aynaoui in the round robin stage and then doing away with old rival, local Greg Rusedski, he secured
a spot for himself in the semis.
A veteran at the Champions Tour, Ivanisevic has played in eight events this season with the season finale being the ninth. The only time he made it to the finals and won was at the Knokke-Heist event in Belgium. Defeating Cash,
Ivanisevic secured his only win this season.
Rafter meets Ivanisevic in a rematch of the 2001 Wimbledon final where the latter eventually clinched his only career Grand Slam. Not nervous about his matchup with the defending champion, Ivanisevic seems much relaxed talking
about the match. In a one-liner after his match with Rusedski, Ivanisevic said, “…I have another interesting match with Patrick (Rafter) tomorrow.”
Joking about his match with Ivanisevic and the Croat’s notorious serve, Rafter commented, “Goran’s serve is ridiculous and so hard to return. I’ll probably come dressed in cricket gear and see what happens!”
Wrapping up the evening session will be two doubles exhibition matches. First up, Mansour Bahrami and Peter Fleming will play Cash and Peter McNamara. Following these four on the courts will be the Jeremy Bates and El Aynaoui as
they take on the team of Henri Leconte and Mikael Pernfors.
Looking to defend his championship this year, Rafter fans can expect an excellent display of tennis from their star. However, the rankings no.2 Croat can be expected to put up a good fight for the Aussie.
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