2010 AEGON Masters Tennis: Semi Final Review – Patrick Rafter vs. Goran Ivanisevic
And then they were two! With only one match remaining in the season finale event of the ATP Champions Tour, the semi final round wrapped up on Saturday evening. The “Old Ones” are currently playing at the 2010 AEGON Masters Tennis,
which is being held at the famous Royal Albert Hall in London.
With the first semi final scheduled in the afternoon, it was American Todd Martin to secure a spot in the finals. Playing against local Tim Henman, Martin brushed aside Henman in straight sets. Winning the match 7-6(1), 6-3 Martin
moved into the finals going 3-1 in the win-loss mark for the event.
Playing in the evening were Croat Goran Ivanisevic and defending Champion Aussie Patrick Rafter.
Both enjoying a 3-0 mark in the event so far, the semi final match was truly a tough competition. Rafter did away with compatriot Pat Cash and Martin in the round-robin stage to make it into the quarterfinals. He then went on to
defeat French Henri Leconte in the quarters after the match went into Champions’ Tiebreak.
Being the defending champion, Rafter was seeded first into the event. Last year he had defeated Cedric Pioline and Ivanisevic himself, to meet Stefan Edberg in the finals. After taking the match into Champions’ Tiebreak, Rafter
defeated Edberg by 6-7(5), 6-4, 11-9 to win the season finale event.
Forced to retire from the season finale event last year, Ivanisevic was hoping for a better run this year. A veteran in the Champions Tour, the Croat is playing in his seventh event this season. Moving past old rival Henman and
Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui in the round- robin, Ivanisevic found himself pitted against another old rival in the quarters, Greg Rusedski. Although local Rusedski enjoyed the home court advantage, Ivanisevic ultimately defeated the Brit in Champions’ Tiebreak
securing a spot for himself in the semis.
Before his match with Rafter, Ivanisevic spotted the Aussie eating a banana sandwich. Joking about it, the Croat said, “There's no way I'm losing to a guy who eats banana sandwiches.”
From the mouth of the Croat to the ears of God! Ivanisevic defeated Rafter after a long and tiring match. With both sets going into tiebreakers, it was difficult to predict the clear-cut winner. Although Ivanisevic lost the opener
despite following Rafter closely at the heels, he bounced back in the second set to level the set score with his opponent. With one set win each, the match went into its first Champions’ Tiebreak of the day. In a neck-to-neck race, the score was tied for sixteen
points. Just when it seemed it could go on for a while, Ivanisevic caught himself a lucky break. Winning two consecutive points, Ivanisevic won the tiebreak at 10-8, ousting the defending champion from the event.
In a re-creation of the 2001 Wimbledon Final, where Ivanisevic defeated Rafter to clinch his only career Grand Slam, it seems that history repeated itself today. Rafter exits the event with a 3-1 mark, while Ivanisevic goes on
with a perfect 4-0 score to meet Todd Martin in the final on Sunday.
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