2010 AEGON Masters Tennis: Quarterfinal Evening Review
The quarterfinal round drew to a close in the evening session on Friday, as tennis legends continued to battle it out at the 2010 AEGON Masters Tennis. The “Old Ones” are clashing at the ATP Champions Tour’s season finale event,
which is underway at the famous Royal Albert Hall in London.
Playing in the afternoon, Todd Martin moved into the semis after his opponent Cedric Pioline retired due to a calf injury. Following these two on the courts were ancient rivals Goran Ivanisevic and Greg Rusedski. Ivanisevic moved
into the semis after awarding Rusedski with yet another defeat.
Similarly, the evening session also had two quarterfinal matches. Kicking off the session was local Tim Henman as he was faced by Swede Thomas Enqvist. Currently ranked first in the South African Airways (SAA) Rankings, Enqvist
has appeared in and won two finals this season. He also managed to bag third places at two more events.
Moving into the quarterfinals, Enqvist had a perfect 2-0 record. Having won against Jeremy Bates and Henri Leconte, Enqvist practically sailed into the quarterfinals. Henman on the other hand moved with a levelled 1-1 mark, having
defeated Younes El Aynaoui on Tuesday and then losing to old rival Ivanisevic on Wednesday.
It came as a shock to fans and crowd alike, when Henman tainted Enqvist’s perfect run in the event. Taking the match into Champions Tiebreak, Henman was able to defeat Enqvist and secure a spot for himself in the semis.
Rushing into the opener, Henman was quick to take the lead and then maintain it. With a three game lead over the Swede, Henman won the first 6-3 taking a one set lead over Enqvist. Ranking No.1, Enqvist bounced back in the third
set and reversed the score to win the second set 6-3. With one set each, the match entered a Champions Tiebreak. Capitalizing on the home crowd advantage, Henman led the tiebreak 4-2 and ultimately won it at 10-7.
With a 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 win over Enqvist, Henman moves into the semis where he will face Martin.
Following the Swede Brit clash, was defending champion Aussie Patrick Rafter as he met Leconte. Currently ranked at fifth in the SAA Rankings with 860 points, Rafter has two final appearances this season. Having won the final in
the season opener at Delray Beach, Rafter managed another win at the inaugural Champions Downunder event last month. His run in the Chengdu Cup was however not as successful; he exited the event with a 0-3 mark. Having won the season finale event in 2009 after
defeating Stefan Edberg in Champions Tiebreak, Rafter was seeded first in the event this year. After enjoying straight set wins against Martin and compatriot Pat Cash, Rafter moved into the quarters with a perfect 2-0 mark.
Playing against Leconte, he managed to up this mark to 3-0 as he defeated the French in the second Champions Tiebreak of the day. Losing the first set 1-6, Leconte bounced back in the second set taking it to tiebreaker. Ensuring
a three-point lead, Leconte was able to win the tiebreaker 7-4. With one set win each, the match went into Champions Tiebreak. The tiebreak went by in a blur as Rafter raced to 10 points losing only three to Leconte in the process.
Doing away with Leconte, Rafter now meets Ivanisevic in a rematch of the 2001 Wimbledon final where the latter defeated the Aussie to clinch his only career Grand Slam.
The evening session was wrapped up by yet another doubles exhibition match played between the team of Cash and Mark Woodforde as they played the Brit Moroccan duo of Bates and El Aynaoui.
With the champions now down to the final four, the semi final matches will be played on Saturday.
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