Becker is Back!

The three-time Wimbledon Champion Boris Becker will play his first ATP Champions Tour event for two years when he lines up alongside fellow tennis greats Goran Ivanisevic and Yevgeny Kafelnikov for the second Vivium Victory Challenge in Luxembourg (November 26-29).

The 41-year-old Becker’s last appearance on the Tour was in Hamburg in 2007, but the German feels that Luxembourg is the perfect place to make his comeback to senior tennis, having finally shaken off the injury problems that have plagued him in recent years.

Played in the vast d’Coque Arena in the heart of Luxembourg’s financial district, the Vivium Victory Challenge was a huge success in its maiden year, attracting a star-studded field and sell-out crowds. And with the likes of Becker in the field, 2009 is set to be more exciting than ever.

Becker does not face an easy task in his return to competitive tennis. The German has been drawn to play in Group A alongside the 2001 Wimbledon Champion, Goran Ivanisevic. Crowd-pleasing entertainer Mansour Bahrami as well as Frenchman Arnaud Boetsch are also in his group.

Group B is equally tough, comprising of last year’s runner up Henri Leconte as well as two-time Grand Slam Champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov and double French Open Champion Sergi Bruguera. The field is rounded off with Luxembourgois wildcard Johnny Goudenbourg, who last year made a name for himself in his home town by beating his childhood hero Bjorn Borg en route to finishing third.

The draw has thrown up some mouth-watering clashes, including a Saturday evening match-up between Ivanisevic and Becker. Another highlight is sure to be the match between French Open Champions Kaelnikov and Bruguera, scheduled to be played on the Thursday of the event. Kafelnikov made is debut on the ATP Champions Tour in 2008, will now be hungry to win his first Tour title in Luxembourg.

Matches 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.

The next stop on the ATP Champions Tour will in be Graz (August 5-9) for the s Tennis Masters, and following that in the Algarve for the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions (August 11-14).