Goran Ivanisevic won the inaugural Turkcell Legends Cup in Istanbul, Turkey to take his first BlackRock Tour of Champions title of 2008 and jump to No.1 in the South African Airways Champions Tour Rankings.
A capacity crowd generated an electric atmosphere for the final, which Ivanisevic won 6-4, 6-4 against Fernando Meligeni of Brazil.
The match was closer than the scoreline suggested, but the Ivanisevic serve was the deciding factor. In the first set, the two players exchanged breaks of serve before Ivanisevic took the decisive advantage at 4-4. Meligeni kept fighting in the second set and made the match competitive, but again Ivanisevic broke the Meligeni serve and from then on the outcome was never in doubt.
“I played really good today and I really had a great time,” said Ivanisevic.
“It’s been such a well-organised tournament and everybody has been so welcoming and kind. I’m really grateful to play here and I hope the tournament exists next year and I hope to be here. I’m happy to be number one (in the rankings), that’s really nice. But there’s still a lot of tournaments and a lot of competition between now and then but if I play like this then it’s definitely possible (that I could finish the year No.1).”
Istanbul Event Profile | Order of Play
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Meligeni was disappointed to lose, but not surprised, having lost all of his three meetings with Ivanisevic on the ATP circuit.
“Always when I play Goran it’s very tough and he served unbelievably and put me under a lot of pressure,” said Meligeni.
“I think it was a good match and it was fun but I was under pressure all the time and he was definitely the deserving winner today, he played better. It’s an honour for me to be playing here and competing with these guys on the circuit. This week has been unbelievable with great hospitality and a great welcome here in Istanbul. I would love to have the chance to come back.”
In the 3rd/4th place play-off, Cedric Pioline defeated Thomas Muster 4-6, 7-5, 11-9 (Champions’ Tie Break).
Next, the BlackRock Tour of Champions moves on to two of the most popular and long-standing tour-dates - Graz, Austria for the s Tennis Masters (July 29 - August 2) and then Algarve, Portugal for the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions CGD (August 5-8).
These are exciting times for the Tour, with former World No.1’s Pete Sampras Sao Paulo, London), Stefan Edberg (Paris, London) and Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Eindhoven) all joining the circuit for World No.1’s, Grand Slam finalists and Davis Cup winners in 2008.
The 1989 French Open champion Michael Chang and 1996 Wimbledon finalist Malivai Washington also announced that they will join Kafelnikov at the AFAS Tennis Classics in Eindhoven, October 2-5.
Ivanisevic, Muster, John McEnroe, Bjorn Borg, Pat Cash, Marcelo Rios and Michael Stich will also be back in action as the year progresses.
Saturday: Goran Survives "Mind-Loss" To Reach Istanbul Final
Friday: Ivanisevic/Muster Set Up Final Eliminator In Istanbul
Thursday: Ivanisevic Hammers Furious Cash In Istanbul
The BlackRock Tour of Champions Set For Thrilling Istanbul Debut
