October 4, 2007
John McEnroe is keeping his fingers crossed that Bjorn Borg will recover from a stomach virus in time to face him at the Alex Tennis Classics in Eindhoven on Friday.
The American was in inspired form as he beat Henri Leconte 7-6(5), 6-3, avenging two losses to the Frenchman in Belfast and Rome earlier this year.
The victory cheered him up after learning that Borg had been forced to withdraw from his opening round-robin match with co-Tournament Director Paul Haarhuis. Borg was suffering with a stomach virus.
“Whenever we play there’s a special feeling and I hope he’s able to play,” said McEnroe.
“He’s always had an almost super-human constitution and he can often still play well even if he’s not been able to practice, so if he’s better, he can still make life difficult.”
Having struggled in three consecutive clay court tournaments on the BlackRock Tour of Champions in Barcelona, Rome and Paris, McEnroe was happy to get back indoors on a court surface that is perfect for him.
He and Leconte went toe-to-toe throughout the opening set, and the tie-break was a fittingly thrilling climax.
McEnroe led it 3-1, Leconte hit a stream of stunning winners to go up 5-3, but then the American played some of his best tennis of the year to reel off four points in a row to take it 7-5.
The second set was not without incident, McEnroe leading by an early break but then having to fight off two break-back points.
He punctuated one disagreement with the umpire over a line-call by venting at the official. It seemed to help him focus, and he went on to close out the match comfortably.
“You have to weather the storm when you play Henri,” he said.
“It was looking a little bit dicey for me when I was 5-3 down in the Tie-Break, but after I fought back from that I thought that it was going to be my day.”
Elsewhere, South African Airways Champions Tour Rankings leader Sergi Bruguera and home favourite Richard Krajicek both looked in ominously good form in the Elandsdoorn Group.
Bruguera saw off Carl-Uwe Steeb 6-3, 6-2, while Krajicek overcame Thomas Muster 6-4, 6-4.
They will meet on Saturday.
After Eindhoven, Borg will then visit Liege in Belgium for the Panasonic Legends Cup (November 8-11), the Champions Trophy in Frankfurt (November 15-18), and the new event in Sao Paulo, Brazil (November 22-25) before arriving in London for the BlackRock Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall (December 4-9).
McEnroe will also play in Liege.
Borg and McEnroe have also renewed their rivalry in a hilarious commercial for the Tesco supermarket. To view the commercial, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwkpYD-_vrk
GROUPS
Unicef Group
Matches won (sets)
John McEnroe 1-0 (2-0)
Paul Haarhuis 1-0 (2-0)
Bjorn Borg 0-1 (0-2)
Henri Leconte 0-1 (0-2)
Elandsdoorn Group
Matches won (sets)
Segi Bruguera 1-0 (2-0)
Richard Krajicek 1-0 (2-0)
Thomas Muster 0-1 (0-2)
Carl-Uwe Steeb 0-1 (0-2)
RESULTS - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4
Sergi Bruguera d. Carl-Uwe Steeb 6-3, 6-2
Paul Haarhuis d. Bjorn Borg walkover (Borg stomach virus)
Richard Krajicek d. Thomas Muster 6-4, 6-4
John McEnroe d. Henri Leconte 7-6(5), 6-3
SCHEDULE - FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5
At 3pm
Richard Krajicek vs Carl-Uwe Steeb
Sergi Bruguera vs Thomas Muster
At 7pm
Paul Haarhuis vs Henri Leconte
Bjorn Borg vs John McEnroe
