Enqvist beats Ivanisevic to win Chengdu Open
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Thomas Enqvist (L) of Sweden shows the trophy with Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia during the awarding ceremony for the final of Chengdu Open, an ATP Champions tour event, at the Sichuan International Tennis Center in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Nov. 8, 2009. Enqvist claimed the title by beating Ivanisevic 2-0. [Xinhua/Jiang Hongjing] |
ATP Champions Tour No. 1 Thomas Enqvist of Sweden continued his historic run en route to capturing the inaugural Chengdu Open crown, preserving his undefeated record on tour by upsetting Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia7-5, 6-2.
There was an era in tennis when the unbeatable Swede was Bjorn Borg. On the ATP Champions Tour, that invincible aura now surrounds Enqvist, who has won all 12 matches he has played so far.
The victory in China supplies him with an additional 400 South African Airways ranking points, giving him a total of 1,200 points on the year. With tournament victories in Sao Paulo and Paris, Enqvist now towers 750 points over current No. 2, fellow Swede Stefan Edberg.
The Chengdu Open final was undistinguishable from an ATP World Tour match except in one key area: the players were smiling. A lot.
"It's all the good parts of tennis, now you don't have the stress anymore, you don't have the pressure anymore, you just go out there and have fun," explained Enqvist.
"Obviously, when you're on the court, you want to do well, but the most important thing is that you enjoy yourself and you give the crowd a good match."
Enqvist did just that. Though Enqvist has praised Ivanisevic's serve as "probably the best of all-time," he was able to break the lefty three times: once in the final game of the first set, and twice in the second set.
Ivanisevic, re-aggravating the thigh muscle he had pulled the day, moved sparingly around the court. By the second set, upon missing his first serve, he would hop on his left leg to avoid landing on his injured right thigh.
Yet Ivanisevic, who won Wimbledon in 2001 with an injured shoulder, and the 2008 ATP Champions Tour event in Budapest with an injured knee, still struck clean winners from the baseline and served 10 aces in the match. Enqvist dominated, however, rifling forehand, backhand, and volley winners.
Yet when Enqvist looks back on the Chengdu Open years from now, the first memory that comes to mind won't be his stellar play.
"I had five fantastic days here. This was the first time I was able to hit with McEnroe, I got to hit with him, and I got to hit with Bjorn, (who) is my biggest idol and role model -- a really big hero for me always."
Sounding every bit the star-struck fan, he added, "I had so much fun to be around him, to be able to have dinner with him, and to also hit some balls with him. That memory I'm going to keep for the rest of my life."
For Ivanisevic as well, the absolute highlight of the tournament was getting to interact with and play against McEnroe and Borg in the round robin stage. "First, (I played) Bjorn. I had a great time, then John...I didn't have (such a) good time because he wanted to beat me badly -- but in the end he lost. So it's always fun when you can beat your idol."
Meanwhile, the third place playoff lived up to the high entertainment expectations Australian Pat Cash had created for fans, with eventual winner Yevgeny Kafelnikov joining in the fun.
Kafelnikov stripped off his sweatbands and lobbed them to Cash, who hit them into the stands. When two spectators fought over one of the many black-and-white checkered headbands Cash threw into the crowd, Cash motioned for them to return it to him. He snipped it in half with his scissors, and tossed the two parts back to the spectators in question.
Throughout the match, the fans laughed as much as if they were audience at a comedy show. At one point, Cash handed his racket to a ball girl in mock frustration and motioned for her to receive serve in his place.
She whiffed the soft serve Kafelnikov lobbed to her, so Cash picked another ball boy to stand in for him. When Cash's second choice was similarly unable to get a rally going, Kafelnikov signaled for the ball boy at the net to take his place. The ball boy hit a clean inside-out forehand return for a winner. The umpire, who had allowed the intermission in play to unfold, then continued regular scoring when the players resumed.
Kafelnikov broke Cash in the final game of the first set and twice in the second set. The players did well to mix entertainment with competition as they played a technically sound match with the mirth of court jesters.
In fact, Kafelnikov so enjoyed the Chengdu Open that he said, "It's a shame I haven't been playing (in this) part of the world. If I knew how good the place was, I definitely would have come much more often."
Ivanisevic was blown away by the conditions in Chengdu. "This is one of the greatest stadiums I've ever played in my life," he said, noting the windless weather and just-right stadium size.
If the fans enjoyed themselves even half as much as the players, then the 2009 Chengdu Open was an all-around unforgettable entertainment experience. Fortunately, both the players and the fans only need to wait for one year until the ATP Champions Tour returns to the Sichuan International Tennis Center.
