November 15, 2007
Goran Ivanisevic celebrated the birth of his son Emanuel and a rare good night’s sleep with a 7-6(8), 6-3 victory over Thomas Muster at the Klarmobil.de Champions Trophy in Frankfurt on Thursday.
The Croatian, whose girlfriend Tatjana gave birth to their second child just over a month ago, has played sparingly on the BlackRock Tour of Champions because of a knee injury and his new parental responsibilities.
Four years ago he told stories of how his new daughter Amber-Maria was ‘like a vampire who only comes out at night’, and his only chance to catch up on sleep came at events on the BlackRock Tour of Champions. This week, in Frankfurt, it seems the same is true again.
“I haven’t slept for one month!” said Ivanisevic.
“This week is like my holiday. Four days in a row of good sleep! The first month of his (Emanuel’s) life has been great for him, but not too good for me. When you don't sleep at all it's tough to practice. But it’s ok. In a couple of years it’s going to be perfect.”
After a sluggish opening set against Muster, Ivanisevic awoke from his joyful slumber to squeeze through an opening set Tie-break and then race through the second set.
He is now looking forward to what he is convinced will be group-deciding clash against Paul Haarhuis on Friday night.
“The court is very fast and I’m hitting the ball okay,” said Ivanisevic.
“Maybe I tried too much but I’m happy overall. I didn’t play a tournament for three, four months so I’m happy. I think it’s going to be me and Paul [Haarhuis] battling for the final, I don’t think something else can happen honestly.”
Elsewhere, Haarhuis scraped past 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-8 (Champions' Tie-break) while Anders Jarryd won another thriller against Bjorn Borg 5-7, 6-1, 10-6 (Champions' Tie-break) and Michael Stich won the battle of the big-hitters against Richard Krajicek 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-8 (Champions' Tie-break).
The eight-man field is divided into two groups of four, with all players in each group playing each other over the first three days, and the players finishing top of each group meeting in the final. Those finishing second in each group will contest the 3rd/4th place play-off.
Matches are played over the best of three sets, with a Champions’ Tie-break (first two 10 points with a clear advantage of two) the winner.
After Frankfurt, the BlackRock Tour of Champions will visit South America for the first time, with the Nossa Caixa Grand Champions Brasil taking place in Sao Paulo, Brazil (November 22-25). That will be the final event before the Tour arrives in London for the BlackRock Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall (December 4-9).
Borg will play at both of those events.
BLACKROCK TENNIS CHAMPIONS PODCAST – ROGER FEDERER TO INTERVIEW BORG AND MCENROE
Roger Federer will guest star on the next BlackRock Tennis Champions Podcast, which will be available to download from Tuesday, 20th November. Downloadable from iTunes or the BlackRock Tour of Champions website, Federer quizzes Bjorn Borg on how to win the French Open, John McEnroe about his greatest tennis regrets, and then takes the hotseat as Borg and McEnroe ask the questions.
To subscribe to the BlackRock Tennis Champions Podcast via iTunes, click here
Or via the BlackRock Tour of Champions website
RESULTS – THURSDAY, 15 NOVEMBER, 2007
Goran Ivanisevic d Thomas Muster 7-6(8), 6-3
Paul Haarhuis d Pat Cash 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-8 (Champions' Tie-break)
Anders Jarryd d Bjorn Borg 5-7, 6-1, 10-6 (Champions' Tie-break)
Michael Stich d Richard Krajicek 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-8 (Champions' Tie-break)
LATEST GROUP STANDINGS
GROUP A
Anders Jarryd 1-0 (2-1)
Michael Stich 1-0 (2-1)
Bjorn Borg 0-1 (1-2)
Richard Krajicek 0-1 (1-2)
GROUP B
Goran Ivanisevic 1-0 (2-0)
Paul Haarhuis 1-0 (2-1)
Pat Cash 0-1 (1-2)
Thomas Muster 0-1 (0-2)
SCHEDULE – FRIDAY, 16 NOVEMBER, 2007
17.00 - Pat Cash vs Thomas Muster
18.30 - Michael Stich vs Anders Jarryd
20.45 - Bjorn Borg vs Richard Krajicek
22.15 - Goran Ivanisevic vs Paul Haarhuis
