As the box office for The BlackRock Masters at the Royal Albert Hall officially opened, one of the former Wimbledon champions that intend to appear at the event made a surprising prediction ahead of this year’s Championships at the All England Club.
Goran Ivanisevic, who expects to make his first appearance at The BlackRock Masters between the 5th and 10th December, believes Tim Henman carries the biggest threat of all British players at Wimbledon this year.
While teenager Andy Murray has received the majority of headlines over the past 12 months, Ivanisevic is convinced that Henman could still cause a surprise and win Wimbledon as a rank-outsider, just as the Croatian did himself five years ago.
“I give the best chance of British players to Tim because he has the game to actually win Wimbledon - even now,” said Ivanisevic.
It was the Croatian who cost Henman his best chance of glory at the All England Club when he won their rain-interrupted, three-day semi-final in 2001. Ivanisevic took the match in five sets and Henman has never been as close to the final since, but he still has a chance this year according to his old rival.
“You can never underestimate Tim. I like the way that he plays. I call him the ‘professor’ of tennis. Ok, maybe he’s in his 30’s now, but I was nearly 30 when I won. No-one gave me a chance, but I came, and I won. If Tim is ready, I fancy his chances,” said Ivanisevic.
The BlackRock Masters (formerly The Masters Tennis) is the culminating event on the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions, and features greats of the games such as John McEnroe, Pat Cash and Marcelo Rios playing against each other in the most spectacular indoor venue in the world. A field of 12 singles players will contest the $100,000 winner-takes-all prize, with ten players from the Tour qualifying automatically via ranking points collected throughout the year and two further players awarded wildcard entries by the Tournament Management. The event also features a doubles exhibition series.
Tickets are available from the box office via the ticket hotline: 0870 458 5582 or online at: www.theblackrockmasters.com
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BlackRock is one of the largest publicly traded investment management firms in the United States with approximately $463.1 billion of assets under management at March 31, 2006. BlackRock manages assets on behalf of institutional and individual investors worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, cash management and alternative investment products. In addition, BlackRock provides risk management, investment system outsourcing and financial advisory services to a growing number of institutional investors. Headquartered in New York City, the firm serves clients from offices in the U.S., Europe and Asia. BlackRock is majority owned by The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and by BlackRock employees. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.blackrock.com
Merrill Lynch is one of the world’s leading wealth management, capital markets and advisory companies, with offices in 36 countries and territories and total client assets of approximately $1.8 trillion. As an investment bank, it is a leading global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a broad range of asset classes and serves as a strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. Through Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, the company is one of the world’s largest managers of financial assets. Firmwide, assets under management total US$581 billion as at 31st March 2006. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com
