ATP Champions Tour 2009 Review
The year of 2009 saw a changing of the guard on the ATP Champions Tour. Not only were three of the year’s six events won by first-time titlists, but for the first time since the tournament’s inception in 1997 John McEnroe sat out the year-end AEGON Masters Tennis tournament in London, handing over the reigns to the Tour’s young guns.
The year kicked off in April with eight of the Tour’s best clay court players descending on the Real Club de Tenis in Barcelona for the Champions Cup. Despite a field that included three Grand Slam Champions, it was the unlikely figure of Felix Mantilla, a man who had only recently won a battle with skin cancer, that emerged victorious. The Spaniard’s final victory over French Open Champion Albert Costa to clinch his first ever ATP Champions Tour title was a truly inspiring triumph over adversity.
Attention then turned to Sao Paulo for the AOC Grand Champions Brazil. The tournament saw the Tour debut of 1999 Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist, and the start of what was to be an astonishing run of form for the Swede. After sweeping past Sergi Bruguera, Paul Haarhuis and Emilio Sanchez in the group stages, Enqvist downed home favourite Fernando Meligeni to lift his maiden ATP Champions Tour trophy without losing a set.
The Algarve was the next destination on the Tour, and for the third time of the year, a first-time Champion lifted the trophy. Greg Rusedski arrived in Portugal hungry for his first tournament victory, having narrowly missed out to Cedric Pioline in the London final the year before. He was on a mission. After making light work of his group stage matches, a tougher test was to come in the final for Rusedski. The Briton had to battle past Stefan Edberg, a man playing so well that his beaten round robin opponent Meligeni had said he thought the Swede “could beat a top 50 player for sure.” But battle past him Rusedski did, and he was rewarded with 400 South African Airways Ranking Points and a first ATP Champions Tour title to his name.
The Vale Do Lobo Grand Champions was also the event where an unusually jovial Marcelo Rios discovered the joyous news that his girlfriend was expecting their second child. Speaking of which, there must have been something in the air on the ATP Champions Tour in 2009 because it was a year when many of the Tour’s players became fathers; some for the first time, some adding to their brood. Amongst the proud parents were Sergi Bruguera, whose wife gave birth to twins Claudia and Divc in September and also Rusedski who became a father for the second time to son John James in October. Brazilian Meligeni also became a first time father in 2009, whilst Thomas Muster fathered his first daughter, Maxime, early on in the year
It was at the following two events that Enqvist’s dominance of the ATP Champions Tour in 2009 was truly cemented. First came the Jean-Luc Lagardere Trophy in Paris, where the headline story was the rematch between 1989 French Open finalists Edberg and Michael Chang. Twenty years ago it was the American who emerged the victor, inflicting what Edberg calls the most painful defeat of his career, and himself becoming the youngest ever Grand Slam Champion. In 2009, the result was the same in Paris; a thrilling match and a narrow Chang victory. The win was enough to put him through to the final and there he came up against a still unbeaten Enqvist. The Swede remained unbeaten, overcoming Chang in straight sets, and in doing so taking a deserved place at the top of the South African Airways Rankings.
Enqvist carried that imperious form into the maiden Chengdu Open in China, this time downing Goran Ivanisevic in a three set final. The man was unbeatable.
Luckily for everyone else though, the Swede was absent from the year-ending AEGON Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The field was still spectacularly strong. Not only was Wimbledon finalist Mark Philippoussis making his ATP Champions Tour debut, but the event was to host the long-awaited rematch between Goran Ivanisevic and Pat Rafter, the two players involved in the famous Wimbledon final of 2001, won by the wildcard Croat in five sets. Sadly for the players and fans, Ivanisevic had to retire with a thigh injury midway through the rematch with Rafter, giving the Australian a walkover. But all was not lost. Rafter progressed to a final clash with Edberg, and this time the fans inside the Albert Hall were not disappointed. It was a classic, serve-and-volley confrontation won by Rafter in an enthralling final set Champions Tie Break. It is fair to say that 2009 ended on a high for the ATP Champions Tour.