Magnus Larsson showed the depth of talent on the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions with a straight sets victory over John McEnroe in Graz-Seiersberg on Thursday. The big-hitting Swede won 6-3, 6-4.
"He [Larsson] has a big game and controls the ball well," said McEnroe. "He's got a lot of shots, I knew that. He played better than I did, I just didn’t play good enough.”
Listen to exclusive audios from Graz
Larsson was delighted with the win: “It was a good match. I played well and I wasn’t really in much trouble all match. “It was fun to play McEnroe - I had never played against him before. He was reasonably calm today, a few minor outbursts but that’s him. It was fun."
Elsewhere in Group A, Thomas Muster was a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 winner over Carl-Uwe Steeb, meaning Fridays results will decide who advances to the final.
If Muster beats McEnroe on Friday, the Austrian will reach the final for the second year in a row. If not, and Larsson wins against Steeb, the Swede could advance.
For Muster, there is a lot at stake.
“It’s a big match. Everyone is looking forward to that match here in Austria,” he said.
“People are expecting me to play well and if I win I will reach the final. It’s a difficult one for both of us but there is a little bit more pressure on my side probably.”
“It’s still an open group. Obviously if I win there is no doubt about the final, otherwise it depends on how the group is going.”
Group B is much more straightforward. Marcelo Rios takes on Goran Ivanisevic, with the victor advancing to the final on Saturday.
Matches are played over the best of three sets, with the top player in each round-robin group meeting in the final.
After Graz, the Tour moves on to the Trophée Jean-Luc Lagardère in Paris in September. The Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions will then visit the Alex Tennis Classics in Eindhoven (October 12-15), the Champions Trophy in Frankfurt (November 16-19) before arriving in London for the season-ending BlackRock Masters (December 5-10).
The BlackRock Masters sees the top ten players in the South African Airways Champions Tour Rankings compete for a $100,000 winners’ prize. The field at the Royal Albert Hall in London will increase to 12 with the addition of two wild card invitations.
To be eligible to compete on the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions, players must have been either a World No.1 during their competitive playing careers, a Grand Slam singles finalist or champion, or a singles player on a victorious Davis Cup team, and no longer active as a singles player on the ATP circuit. Each event can also invite two players of its choice to take wild cards.
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 US$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$589 billion as at 30th June 2006. For more information on Merrill Lynch, please visit www.ml.com.
RESULTS – THURSDAY, 17 AUGUST, 2006
Henri LECONTE (FRA) d Alex ANTONITSCH (AUT) 6-3, 5-7, 10-7 (Champions' Tie-break)
Thomas MUSTER (AUT) d Carl-Uwe STEEB (GER) 6-3, 6-4
Magnus LARSSON (SWE) d John McENROE (USA) 6-3, 6-4
LATEST STANDINGS
Group A
Matches won/lost (sets)
Thomas MUSTER (AUT) 2-0 (4-1)
Magnus LARSSON (SWE) 1-1 (3-2)
John McENROE (USA) 1-1 (2-3)
Carl-Uwe STEEB (GER) 0-2 (1-4)
Group B:
Matches won/lost (sets)
Marcelo RIOS (CHI) 2-0 (4-0)
Goran IVANISEVIC (CRO) 1-1 (3-2)
Alex ANTONITSCH (AUT) 1-2 (3-5)
Henri LECONTE (FRA) 1-2 (2-5)
SCHEDULE – FRIDAY, 18 AUGUST, 2006
14:30 Thomas MUSTER (AUT) – John McENROE (USA)
fwd by Goran IVANISEVIC (CRO) – Marcelo RIOS (CHI)
fwd by Magnus LARSSON (SWE) – Carl-Uwe STEEB (GER)
MERRILL LYNCH Tour of Champions Points Allocation
Winner – 400 points
Finalist – 250 points
3rd place – 200 points
4th place – 125 points
5/6th place – 80 points
7/8th place – 60 points
