2010 AEGON Masters Tennis competition; Highlights from Friday
The quarterfinal round of the 2010 AEGON Masters Tennis competition wrapped up on Friday as the former tennis players continued to battle it out in London. The tennis legends are playing at the ATP Champions Tour’s season finale
competition, at the famous Royal Albert Hall in the city of England.
Two quarterfinal matches were also contested in the evening session. First up, was the local favourite Tim Henman who met Thomas Enqvist of Sweden. Enqvist, who currently enjoys the top spot in the South African Airways (SAA) Rankings,
previously played in two finals earlier in 2010 and emerged victorious on both occasions.
Coming into the final eight round in London, Enqvist had an ideal 2-0 record. He had already confirmed his spot in the quarterfinal round as a result of his victories over Jeremy Bates and Henri Leconte.
Tim, on the other hand, started his tournament’s campaign with a straight set win over Younes El Aynaoui on Tuesday, followed by a defeat at the hands of his old rival Ivanisevic a day later. It came as a surprise to everyone when
Tim tainted Enqvist’s ideal run in the competition. Forcing the battle into the Champions Tiebreak, he did well to cruise past his opponent and thus confirmed his berth in the semi-final.
Henman started strongly by earning a lead during the opening game of the first set and then maintained that lead to clinch the opener at 6-3. The top ranked Enqvist however rallied back in the following set and further improved
his game to level the scores by winning the set at 6-3. With one set each, the quarterfinal battle entered the decisive set where Tim played a superior game in contrast to Enqvist and thus sealed win in the end. The final match score was 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
Henman, by virtue of this victory, has also made his way into the semi-final round in London.
Todd Martin was one of the four players on Friday who made his way into the semi-final round after his foe Cedric Pioline pulled put as a result of his calf injury.
Following these two players on the courts were famous rivals Greg Rusedski and Goran Ivanisevic. Goran, in the end, advanced into the final four round after handing his opponent with yet another loss.
In another match later in the day, Patrick Rafter of Australia thrashed out Leconte in two sets. The final match score was 6-1, 7-4.
Rafter, who is currently ranked number five in the rankings, has two title battle appearances in 2010. He won the finals at Delray Beach, following by another victory at the inaugural Champions Down under competition back in November.
His performance in the Chengdu Cup, however, was not that impressive as he exited the competition with a record of 0-3.
Playing in his quarterfinal match versus Leconte, the right hander did well to win the opening set within no time. After losing the first set, Leconte rallied back in the second set forcing it into a tiebreaker. Rafter, however,
managed to win the next ten points and thus confirmed his spot in the semis.
Having given a treatment to Leconte, Rafter, as a result of this win, will next take on Ivanisevic in a rematch of the 2001grass court Grand Slam final where Ivanisevic turned out to be the winner in the end.
The evening session on Friday was wrapped up by another doubles exhibition clash pitting Cash and Mark Woodforde versus Brit Moroccan pair of Bates and El Aynaoui.
All the semi-final clashes will be played on Saturday.
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