May 18th, 2007
Sergi Bruguera continued his relentless surge through the clay court swing on the BlackRock Tour of Champions as Boris Becker was forced to withdraw from the event with a calf injury.
Bruguera breezed past Cedric Pioline 6-3, 6-2, while Becker awoke to an injury that prevented him from playing his second match against Karel Novacek one day after his stunning three set win against Thomas Muster on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Muster got his tournament back on track with a 6-2, 4-6, 10-7 (Champions’ Tie-Break) win over Henri Leconte.
Matches are played over the best of three sets, with the third set taking the form a Champions’ Tie-Break, with the first player to reach 10 points and lead by a margin of two, the winner.
The top two players in each group after the round-robin stages will meet in Sunday’s final.
GROUP STANDINGS
GROUP A
Matches Won/Lost (sets)
Henri Leconte 2-1 (3-2)
Thomas Muster 1-1 (3-3)
Karel Novacek 1-1 (0-2)
Boris Becker 1-2 (2-1)
GROUP B
Matches Won/Lost (sets)
Sergi Bruguera 2-0 (4-0)
Cedric Pioline 1-1 (2-2)
Goran Ivanisevic 1-1 (2-2)
Michael Stich 0-2 (0-4)
SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS 2007 CHAMPIONS TOUR RANKINGS (after three events)
POS. PLAYER PTS
1 Sergi Bruguera 800
2 Henri Leconte 510
3 Wayne Ferreira 450
4 Anders Jarryd 400
5 John McEnroe 310
6 Cedric Pioline 260
7 Jordi Arrese 250
8 Thomas Muster 160
9 Carl-Uwe Steeb 140
10 Michael Stich 125
11 Pat Cash 80
11 Jeremy Bates 80
11 Renzo Furlan 80
14 Richard Krajicek 60
14 Paolo Cane 60
