2010 AEGON Masters Tennis: Thursday Evening Review
The round-robin stage of the ATP Champions Tour season finale event wrapped up today after four legends clashed in two matches scheduled for the evening. The tennis stars are competing this week at the Royal Albert Hall in the
AEGON Masters Tennis.
The afternoon session on Thursday wrapped up with Greg Rusedski and Henri Leconte moving into the quarterfinals to join already qualified French Cedric Pioline, Swede Thomas Enqvist, Aussie Patrick Rafter and American Todd Martin.
Although Martin and Rafter were scheduled to play in the evening session, their qualification in the quarters was confirmed after group mate Pat Cash exited the event with a 0-2 mark.
Kicking off the evening session was Martin as he took on defending champion Rafter. Rafter, who had won the 2009 event after defeating Stefan Edberg in the final, was seeded first in the event this year. Appearing for the fourth
time this season in a Champions event, Rafter currently ranks at fifth position in the ATP Champions ranking.
Rafter came into the event fresh from a win at the inaugural Champions Downunder event at Sydney. Held for the first time in the Champions Tour, Rafter became the first champion at this event after doing away with John McEnroe
in straight sets in the final. He had earlier defeated McEnroe in the final of the season opener at Delray Beach. His only “not up to the mark” performance came at the Chengdu Cup in October when he failed to make it past the first round, exiting the event
with a 0-3 mark.
The season finale event is Martin’s first appearance at any Champions event this season.
Rafter moved to a 2-0 mark after he brushed aside Martin in two sets on Thursday evening. He had previously defeated compatriot Pat Cash in their opening match to move to a 1-0 mark. With a perfect 2-0 record, Rafter joins the
already qualified players in the quarterfinal round to be held on Friday.
Caught in a tooth and nail battle in the opener, the two champions were tied for six games determined to not give up the lead. The score was tied until 3-3; however, catching a break Rafter won three consecutive games to win the
set 6-3 and grab a one set lead. Determined to give the defending champion a tough time, Martin closely followed at his heels in the second managing to keep the score tied for ten games. However, Rafter again caught a break and won the second set 7-5. With
a straight set win, the Aussie practically sailed his way into the quarterfinals. Loss for Martin however, does not mean the exit since he too had already previously qualified for the quarterfinals.
Following the Aussie American clash, were Croat Goran Ivanisevic and Moroccan Younes El Aynaoui. Having defeated local Tim Henman in his opening match, Ivanisevic had moved to a 1-0 mark in the event. His win over the Moroccan
in the evening session wrap up also earned him the perfect 2-0 mark securing his spot in the quarterfinals. Following his defeat, El Aynaoui exits the event with a 0-2 mark having lost his opening match to Tim Henman earlier. Henman joins Ivanisevic in the
quarterfinals.
In the Croat Moroccan clash, the score of the Aussie American matchup was reversed. Although the Moroccan put up some fight, he eventually lost the first set 7-5. Enjoying a one set lead, Ivanisevic continued his form into the
second set, winning it 6-3.
With the last spots in the quarterfinal round filled by Ivanisevic and Henman, the eight legends will continue their battles on Friday in the four quarterfinal matches scheduled for the day.
Tags: