Jim Courier withstood a storming fightback from John McEnroe to reach the final of the Delta Tour of Champions event in Rome.
The American will now play fellow former French and Italian Open champion Thomas Muster in the final after outlasting McEnroe 7-6(7), 4-6, 10-6 (on a Champions? Tie-Break) in a thrilling match. It will be a repeat of last year?s Masters final at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which Courier won.
"It's going to be great," said Courier, when told that Muster would be his opponent.
"I love playing under the lights here, the crowds here in Italy have seen Thomas and I play a few times and it?s going to be really interesting. He and Sergi (Bruguera) are the two guys on our tour who, on the dirt, you have to look out for the most. If I'm going to win the title I'm going to have to get through Thomas, and for me that's good news."
McEnroe was hugely disappointed afterwards.
He led the first set 4-2 with a break of serve, held a set point in the tie-break before losing it 9-7, and then fought admirably to come back from 3-0 down in the second to win it 6-4.
But, he started the Champions' Tie-break in terrible style, going down 7-0, and finding it too steep a hill to climb.
"It's a tough loss," admitted McEnroe.
"These guys like Jim work you hard, and if you get behind against them in a point, you?re in trouble. I felt like I had him on the ropes in the first set and made a good comeback in the second, but I just got too far behind in the Champions' Tie-Break."
Courier and Muster have played against each other five times on clay, with Courier leading 3-2. He also leads their overall head-to-head 7-5.
Muster reached second consecutive final - fifth overall
Thomas Muster stayed unbeaten in Group B to advance to the final of the Delta Tour of Champions event in Rome, and then looked forward to facing Jim Courier on Tuesday.
Muster, the champion here in 1990, '95 and '96 during his competitive playing career, came from an early break down to defeat Guy Forget 6-3, 6-1.
"It's a cool thing for me because this is my fifth final in Rome if you count the three I made on the ATP tour and the two I've reached on the Delta Champions Tour," said Muster.
"It's obviously a city that suits me, it's one of my favourite cities and it's great to be back in the final."
He knows that Courier won't make life easy for him.
"Against Jim it will be a really tough battle because we've had so many of them, but I feel very good and positive about it."
Matches are contested over the best of three sets, with the deciding set taking the form of a Champions' Tie-break. The first player to reach 10 points in the Champions' Tie-break is the winner. If the score is level at 9-all, a two-point advantage is required.
McEnroe won the first event on the 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 last month, and Goran Ivanisevic also beat Cash a week later in the Hong Kong final.
The event in Hong Kong was one of a number of new steps on the Road to London in 2005. Tournaments in Doha (Qatar), Frankfurt (Germany), Novi (Croatia), Monte Carlo (Monaco) and Essen (Germany), have all been added to the Champions Tour calendar, which now stands at 12 events.
Players will compete for points throughout the year to qualify for The 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.
