2010 AEGON Masters Tennis: Quarterfinal Evening Preview
With the final eight narrowed down after the round robin stage on Thursday, the champions now battle it out in the quarterfinal round at the ATP Champions Tour’s season finale event. The 2010 AEGON Masters Tennis underway at the
famous Royal Albert Hall enters its fourth day on Friday.
Following the week’s suit, play for the day is divided into two sessions. Playing in the afternoon was American Todd Martin as he took on French Cedric Pioline. Following these two on the courts was the much-anticipated matchup
of Croat Goran Ivanisevic and local favourite Greg Rusedski. Wrapping up the afternoon session was an exhibition match between the team of Persian Mansour Bahrami and Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov as they took on the pair of local Jeremy Bates and Moroccan Younes
El Aynaoui.
Similarly, the evening session also had two quarterfinals. Kicking off play for the evening will be Swede Thomas Enqvist as he takes on local Tim Henman.
Enqvist currently tops the South African Airways Champions Tour Rankings with 1900 points. Playing in his sixth event this season, Enqvist has won the finals at Bogota, Sao Paulo and Algarve defeating Wayne Ferreira, Guy Forget
and Austrian veteran Thomas Muster respectively. He also made it into the final round of Chengdu Cup and the Champions Downunder, securing third place at both events.
Enqvist moves into the quarterfinal with a perfect 2-0 mark after having defeated Bates and Henri Leconte in straight sets. He had a trouble-free victory over Bates in their opening match on Tuesday, winning it 6-3, 7-5. He enjoyed
a not so simple win against Leconte the next day since the French showed some resistance. He ultimately managed a 7-6(5), 7-5 win against Leconte.
Local Henman moved into the quarterfinal round with a 1-1 mark. His qualification was confirmed last night after Ivanisevic defeated El Aynaoui to ensure his own qualification with a 2-0 mark. Henman made his debut in the Champions
Tour this Tuesday playing his debut match against El Aynaoui on Tuesday. Enjoying the home crowd advantage, Henman defeated the Moroccan by a twin set score of 6-4, 6-4.
Henman’s second match in the event was a recreation of his fateful three-day semi final at Wimbledon nine years ago. In 2001, Henman was denied a Grand Slam win at Wimbledon by eventual champion Ivanisevic when he lost the semi
final match to the Croat. In a match that went on for three days due to rain, Ivanisevic eventually out lasted the local to move into the finals and secure his only career Grand Slam win. Playing for the first time after nine years, Henman again met disappointment
when he lost to the Croat in a Champions Tiebreak. With each set going into tiebreaker, both professionals enjoyed a one set win. Even in the tiebreaker, Henman put up some fight, but in the end, Ivanisevic’s powerful serve was more than he could handle. Henman
lost the match 4-6, 7-5, 9-11.
Following these two on the courts will be the defending champion, Aussie Patrick Rafter as he takes on Leconte.
Rafter won the 2009 season finale event after defeating Stefan Edberg. Seeded first in this event, Rafter moves into the quarters with a 2-0 mark. Having enjoyed straight set wins over compatriot Pat Cash and Martin, Rafter practically
sailed into the quarters coming one-step closer to winning the event for second year in a row. Currently enjoying the fifth position in the rankings with 710 points, Rafter has won the finals at two events this season, namely Delray Beach and the Champions
Downunder event.
Leconte, on the other hand, moved into the quarters with a 1-1 mark after losing to Enqvist in the opening match and then winning against Bates the following day.
Wrapping up the evening session will be a doubles exhibition match between the Brit Moroccan duo of Bates and El Aynaoui as they take on the team of Cash and Mark Woodforde.
Though Enqvist and Rafter truly are the favourites to win in the evening session, one can never know for sure what the Fates have in store for these legends. Only the results will tell us which two of these four move into the semis.
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