The 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, former French Open finalist Henri Leconte and Davis Cup winner Carl-Uwe Steeb have completed the field of qualifiers for the BlackRock Masters at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
They join former Wimbledon champions John McEnroe, Goran Ivanisevic and Richard Krajicek, French Open winners Thomas Muster and Sergi Bruguera, former World No.1 Marcelo Rios and two-time Grand Slam finalist Cedric Pioline in qualifying gor the event.
Two wild cards will be added to make up a field of 12 before the event gets underway on Tuesday 5th December.
Cash and Steeb both accumulated enough points at the Kia Champions Trophy in Frankfurt last week to qualify, while Leconte could not be surpassed after Paul Haarhuis failed to win the tournament.
The penultimate event on the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions set the scene for London with what many thought was the finest final the Champions Tour had ever witnessed.
Goran Ivanisevic defeated John McEnroe 7-6(12), 7-6(1) in a match of immense quality.
“It’s going to be a very interesting (BlackRock) Masters,” said Ivanisevic.
“Everyone is in form and now that Rios has lost and John has shown how he is playing, it makes it even more interesting.”
While Marcelo Rios joins Thomas Muster at a training camp in Graz, McEnroe plans to go back home to New York and continue the tough training regime that has enabled him to compete with men many years his junior.
“Now I feel like I’m ready,” said McEnroe.
“It’s the best I’ve served all year and it would be nice to end the year in style. Winning the BlackRock Masters would be beautiful.”
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playing careers, a Grand Slam singles finalist or champion, or a singles player on a victorious Davis Cup team, and no longer active as an singles player on the ATP circuit. Each event can also invite two players of its choice to take wild cards.
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