August 15, 2007
Michael Stich scored his best-ever win on the BlackRock Tour of Champions to defeat home-favourite Thomas Muster and reach the final of the s Tennis Masters in Graz-Reininghaus, Austria.
In front of a sell-out crowd in temperatures of 35 degrees celcius, Stich recovered from 4-2 down in the first set to prevail 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-3 (Champions' Tie-break) and seal his place in Saturday’s final.
“I feel dead now, but I won, and that’s all that counts!” said Stich afterwards.
“I thought I had him at the end of the second set, but you never have him until you win the last point against him. He really came back very strong and kept fighting. It was good to beat him here in his home country and hometown. I’m happy.”
Muster was understandably disappointed, but accepted that there was nothing more that he could have done.
“Michael played extremely well. I thought I had him in the first set but I didn’t take my chances,” said Muster.
“He was up in the second but let it go, and then we played a fantastic Champions’ Tie-break. It was a good match, a great crowd and a fantastic day.
“It’s hard to lose in front of your home crowd and not make it to the final, but that’s the way it is. It’s good for the people to see that I don’t get a free ticket into the final. People expect you to win so maybe it’s not that bad for them to see that we need to fight to get there. Even though we are having fun, everyone wants to win at the end of the day.”
Stich will now play either Cedric Pioline or Goran Ivanisevic in the final.
BAD GORAN IS BACK
When Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon as a wild card in 2001, he regaled journalists with stories of how two sides to his personality were battling for supremacy - Good Goran and Bad Goran. If nothing could be resolved, he would send for Emergency 911 Goran.
Yesterday, Good Goran reigned supreme, scoring a dramatic 6-4, 6-2 victory over the previously unbeaten Sergi Bruguera.
Today, Bad Goran elbowed his way onto the scene, and Ivanisevic lost with barely a whimper against Cedric Pioline, the Frenchman winning 6-4, 6-1.
The Croatian’s reaction afterwards suggested that a call to Emergency 911 Goran might be in order.
“I had my chances to reach the final today, but I f***ed it up. Actually, I played like s*** and have no right to be pi**ed off,” he said.
Ivanisevic can still reach Saturday’s final, but he now needs Bruguera to beat Pioline on Friday to do so.
After Graz, the Tour moves on to Paris, Eindhoven, Liege and Frankfurt before arriving in London for the BlackRock Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall.
RESULTS – THURSDAY, 16 AUGUST, 2007
Michael Stich d Thomas Muster 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-3 (Champions' Tie-break)
Cedric Pioline d Goran Ivanisevic 6-4, 6-1
Sergi Bruguera d Magnus Gustafsson 6-3, 7-6(7)
LATEST STANDINGS
GROUP A
Matches won/lost (sets)
Michael Stich 2-0 (4-1)
Thomas Muster 1-1 (3-2)
Pat Cash 1-1 (2-3)
Carl-Uwe Steeb 0-2 (1-4)
GROUP B
Matches won/lost (sets)
Goran Ivanisevic 2-1 (4-3)
Cedric Pioline 1-1 (3-2)
Sergi Bruguera 1-1 (2-2)
Magnus Gustafsson 1-2 (3-5)
SCHEDULE – FRIDAY, 17 AUGUST, 2007
14:00 - Michael Stich vs Carl Uwe Steeb
Followed by - Thomas Muster vs Pat Cash
Followed by - Sergi Bruguera vs Cedric Pioline
