Ferrer & Stepanek Record Wins At Champions Tennis Event
On day three of the ATP Champions Tour’s Champions Tennis Spaniard David Ferrer and former World No. 8 Radek Stepanek recorded singles victories at the Royal Albert Hall.
Saturday’s afternoon session saw Ferrer down Marcos Baghdatis 4-1, 4-2, while Stepanek defeated Nicolas Almagro 4-2, 4-2. In the doubles match Tommy Haas and Greg Rusedski overcame Ferrer and Mikhail Youzhny 4-3, 4-1.
In the evening session, Xavier Malisse moved past Nicolas Almagro 4-3, 4-1, while Youzhny edged Fernando Gonzalez 4-3, 4-3. In the doubles match Tomas Berdych and Mark Philippoussis defeated Almagro and Ferrer 4-3, 3-4, 4-0.
The day was full of lighthearted fun and birthday celebrations, in addition to intense competition. It kicked off with the crowd joining in on a rendition of “Happy Birthday” to celebrate Stepanek. Later in the day ball girls and ball boys joined in on the action and were invited on to the court to play against some of the legends – one of them even finishing a point for Gonzalez.
At the end of the third day, Team Greg was in the lead with eight points, followed by Team Mark and Team Goran with two points each.
Champions Tennis sees players who have held the World No. 1 FedEx ATP Ranking, reached a Grand Slam singles final or been a singles player in a victorious Davis Cup team, compete in a mixture of team and individual events in both singles and doubles.
Across the four days some of the biggest legends of the game will take to the stage in front of a full house, including British star and US Open champion Emma Raducanu who will be facing Romanian and Hamburg European Open winner Elena-Gabriela Ruse. Other stars include British favourite Rusedski, fan favourite Mansour Bahrami, Chilean Gonzalez, Spaniard Ferrer, 2006 Australian Open runner up Baghdatis, and former doubles World No. 4 Stepanek.
Other players competing in the tournament include Malisse, Australian legend Philippoussis, 2010 Wimbledon finalist Berdych, former top-fiver Thomas Enqvist, former Russian number one Youzhny, German Haas, Swede and Canada Masters winner Mikael Pernfors, and Spaniard Almagro.
2021 also marks the last time the tournament is being held at the historic Royal Albert Hall, with this year’s tournament offering tennis lovers a fantastic final opportunity to watch legends of the game battle it out in the beautiful surroundings of this legendary building.
Paul McCann, VP, Tennis Events at IMG said: “For 24 years we’ve given fans the amazing opportunity to watch their favourite tennis superstars play in the iconic Royal Albert Hall, and this year has been like no other. It’s fantastic to see the players compete on the court again, and for a final time, cheered on by the roar of the packed crowd.”
Sponsors of Champions Tennis at Royal Albert Hall include: Original Penguin, Rado, Lacoste Fragrances Dunlop, Superstars, OneStream Software, Brewin Dolphin, Stella Artois, Harrogate, Vodafone, Jaguar, Nyetimber, onefinestay, Adnams, Lavazza.
Tickets are still available from £20 and can be purchased via the ATP Champions Tour website here: www.atpchampionstour.com/london. For more information please visit Champions Tennis on Twitter @ChampionsTennis and on Instagram @champions_tennis. This year’s Champions Tennis tournament is being live streamed on ATPChampionsTour and on Facebook at The ATP Champions Tour.
Teams
Team 1: Rusedski (Captain), Baghdatis, Haas, Stepanek
Team 2: Philippoussis (Captain), Berdych, Gonzalez, Malisse
Team 3: Enqvist (Captain), Ferrer, Youzhny, Almagro
Exho Singles: Raducanu, Ruse
Exho Doubles: Bahrami, TBC
Order of Play
Sunday 28 November
Exho Singles Raducanu v Ruse
Exho Doubles Bahrami/TBC v Pernfors/TBC
Final Singles Team 1st v Team 2nd
Final Doubles Team 1st v Team 2nd
Final Singles Team 1st v Team 2nd