John McEnroe moved to the top of the Stanford Financial Champions Tour Rankings and then pledged to play on the Delta Tour of Champions for at least two more years because he is ?on the edge of something really special.?

The American, who has worked exceptionally hard in-between tournaments to reach peak fitness levels, now heads the Road to London after a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Pat Cash in the final of the Vale Do Lobo Grand Champions Millennium BCP.

He admitted that his chances of maintaining the No.1 ranking at the end of the year hang in the balance because the competition is so extreme ? younger, fitter champions everywhere he turns, but he plans to give it everything he has got.

"It's really tough to win these tournaments now," said McEnroe.

"If I win a third of the events I play it's amazing. I mean, look at these guys, they're tough, they're in great shape. This Tour is way different to what it was 5 or 8 years ago. The conditioning level, the shape the other players are in. I'm way fitter and better than I was 5 or 10 years ago and I need to be. I've got to push it hard for these next couple of years because I'm right on the edge of something special - I'm really close to playing very, very well. I can't go away and come back in three or four years when I'm 50 or 52, I've got to do it now."

After a one-sided first set in the final, Cash was making a real fight of the second at 3 games-all when he pulled a hamstring stretching for a ball out wide to his right.

It seemed unlikely that the Australian would be able to continue as he hobbled around the court, but, not wanting to disappoint another capacity 2,500 crowd in the Algarve, he took an injury time-out, had his leg strapped, and carried on.

McEnroe broke Cash's serve immediately, but remarkably, Cash reeled off four flashing winners to break back to love.

"I thought I could still serve and hit the ball hard, but I couldn't believe it when the balls were going in!" admitted Cash afterwards.

"I didn't have much hope, but I tried hard and the support I had from the crowd was unbelievable."

It took all McEnroe could muster to come through despite his opponent's injury, and afterwards he set his sights on ending the year as the No.1 player in the rankings at the grand old age of 46.

"It's going to be difficult, but I practice hard, I play hard and if you do that regularly good things can happen," said the American, who looks almost certain to qualify for the season-ending Champions Masters at the Royal Albert Hall, 29th November - 4th December.

In the third place play-off, Paul Haarhuis upset defending champion Jim Courier with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-1 victory.

McEnroe won the first event on the 2005 Delta Tour of Champions - the European section of the worldwide ATP Champions Tour - when he triumphed in Frankfurt in February. Sergi Bruguera overcame Pat Cash in the Doha final in April, and Goran Ivanisevic also beat Cash a week later in the Hong Kong final. Muster took the first clay court title of the year with victory in Rome in May, and then Cedric Pioline triumphed in Novi, Croatia in June.

Next week, the tour shifts to Graz in Austria, where Boris Becker will attempt to defend a title he has won three times before. Whatever happens, Becker needs to perform well to kick-start his 2005 Delta Tour of Champions campaign. Only the top ten players in the Stanford Financial Champions Tour Rankings will qualify for London automatically. Goran Ivanisevic and Thomas Muster will both be standing in his way.

After Graz, the tour moves on to Paris, where another all-star field will do battle between the 15th and 18th of September.

Players compete for points throughout the year to qualify for The Champions Masters at the Royal Albert Hall in London, November 29 - December 4. The top ten players in the Stanford Financial Champions Tour Rankings after all events are complete will qualify automatically. The field in London will increase to 12 with the addition of two wild cards.

To be eligible to compete on the ATP Champions Tour, players must have been either a World No.1 during their competitive playing careers, a Grand Slam singles finalist, or a singles player on a victorious Davis Cup team, and no longer active on the ATP tour. Each event can also invite two players of its choice to take wild cards.