McEnroe in London for Statoil Masters Tennis Legends Event

December 5, 2012 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

John McEnroe has arrived in London on the day that the man he beat in the final of last year’s Statoil Masters Tennis Legends tournament—Pat Cash—starts his 2012 campaign against Mats Wilander. While McEnroe gets his campaign underway on Thursday, Cash and Wilander open the tournament on Wednesday.

Cash and McEnroe could meet in the final again after avoiding each other in the round-robin stages. McEnroe has drawn Jeremy Bates and Ivan Lendl, while Cash and Wilander are in with Henri Leconte. The top player in each group will meet in Sunday’s final. Between them, the six players have won 23 Grand Slam singles titles.

Over the years, Cash and Wilander faced each other nine times, with Cash leading their head-to-head 5-4. Their most memorable clash came in the final of the Australian Open in 1988. Cash was attempting to become the first home winner of the tournament since Mark Edmondson 12 years earlier, but he was defeated 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 6-1, 8-6 in the final.

In the younger ATP Champions Tour event, Tim Henman and Goran Ivanisevic have been drawn together and will face each other on Saturday night as part of the Winter Whites Gala in aid of the charity Centrepoint. Henman, the defending champion, will meet the man he beat in last year’s final on Wednesday—Thomas Enqvist.

In the other group, Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis, former world number one Carlos Moya, who is making his debut at the event, and Frenchman Fabrice Santoro will battle it out for a final place. Philippoussis and Santoro will clash on Wednesday afternoon with Moya playing his first match on Thursday.

In doubles action on Wednesday, Ivanisevic & Bates take on Ferreira & Leconte in the afternoon, with Mansour Bahrami & Andrew Castle up against Peter McNamara & Santoro in the evening.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Bethpage
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