Leconte Defeats 'The Best 54-Year-Old In The World'

Henri Leconte won an exhilarating battle with Bjorn Borg 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 (Champions’ Tie Break) on day one of the inaugural Optima Open in Knokke, Belgium on Friday, and then called his opponent "the best 54-year-old tennis player in the world".

The 1986 French Open finalist had won both of his meetings with Borg before they retired, although both had taken place on Borg's comeback in 1983 and 1984 respectively. The Swede was no pushover in Belgium, forcing Leconte to serve his way out of trouble on numerous occasions and frequently showing the packed crowd that he had lost none of the baseline prowess or deft touch at the net that made him famous.

Going into the deciding Champions' Tie Break at one set all, the match was perfectly poised. Borg used his cunning and skill to dominate the initial exchanges and seize the early advantage, but Leconte's power hitting on the crucial points ultimately proved decisive, and after an hour and 40 minutes the match belonged to the Frenchman.

For Leconte, it was a special feeling.

“I beat Bjorn!” he said. “It’s amazing because he was one of my main idols when I was younger and he is just incredible. It was a fun match and a tough match today and we both played well in front of a great crowd.”

Leconte also paid tribute to the form and fitness of the Swede.

“Without a doubt he is the best 54-year-old tennis player in the world,” he said. “It’s unbelievable how good he plays. I wish I can play nearly that well when I’m 54!”

In spite of his loss to Leconte, Borg confirmed that he was enjoying his time at the Optima Open, his first ATP Champions Tour outing of 2010.

“It was really nice to play Henri again today as we’ve had so many good matches on the ATP Champions Tour over the years,” he said. “There were a lot of good points but unfortunately Henri won most of the important ones. I had a lot of fun though.”

In the first match of the day in Knokke, Frenchman Guy Forget prevailed 7-6(6), 6-4 over the 1996 Wimbledon Champion Richard Krajicek.

Krajicek’s misery was further compounded in the final match of the day when the Dutchman was defeated 7-6(10), 6-3 by fellow Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanisevic. With two defeats on the board the Dutchman now stands no chance of reaching Sunday’s final, while Forget and Ivanisevic share top spot in Group B ahead of their clash on Saturday to decide who qualifies for the final. Top spot in Group A is currently held by Leconte. He will face Pat Cash on Saturday, and the Australian will also meet Borg to determine the finalist from Group A.

Matches in Knokke are played over the best of three sets, with a Champions’ Tie-break (first to 10 points with a clear advantage of two) to decide the winner. After all round-robin matches are complete, the top two players in each group will meet in Sunday's final.

After Knokke, the ATP Champions Tour will move on to Paris, France for the seventh annual Jean-Luc Lagardere Trophy at the Stade Coubertin (October 1-3), and following that will arrive at the Sichuan Internatinal Tennis Centre for the second Chengdu Open (October 21-24).