Rusedski Eyes London Revenge; Pioline To Defend Title

Greg Rusedski will attempt to win his first ATP Champions Tour title on British soil after signing up to appear in the AEGON Masters Tennis tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London, 1-6 December.

Last year, Rusedski held match point in a desperately close final against Cedric Pioline before losing 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 11-9 (Champions’ Tie Break). Pioline today also confirmed that he will attempt to defend his title. The eight-man singles field will be completed by the 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash and ATP Champions Tour debutant, Younes El Aynoui of Morocco. For Rusedski, the chance to take on Pioline, El Aynaoui and Cash as well as his 1997 US Open final nemesis Pat Rafter, Goran Ivanisevic, Mark Philippoussis and Stefan Edberg was too good to resist.

“I won my first ATP Champions Tour event this year in Algarve and came close in the Masters Tennis final last year, so I feel like I'm getting closer to winning a Champions Tour event in Britain,” said Rusedski.

“The Royal Albert Hall is a wonderful place to play tennis, especially in front of British crowds, so I'm really looking forward to it and to playing against players like Rafter, Ivanisevic, Edberg and Philippoussis."

Rusedski reached World No.4 in October 1997, and lifted 15 titles in his career. His best result at a Grand Slam tournament came at the 1997 US Open, when he reached the final.

Cash was the 1987 Wimbledon champion, beating Ivan Lendl in the final. He also reached World No.4, in 1988, and helped Australia to Davis Cup victories in 1983 and 1986.

Pioline reached the finals of both Wimbledon (1997) and the US Open (1993). On both occasions he lost to Pete Sampras in the final. He reached a career-high ranking of No.5 in 2000 and helped France to Davis Cup triumph in 1996 and 2001.

El Aynaoui is a wild card entrant from Morocco who enjoyed his best year in 2003 when he reached No.14 in the world and lost the longest and one of the most memorable matches in Australian history against Andy Roddick, 21-19 in the fifth set. Standing at 6’4” with a smile even bigger than his serve, he is popular wherever he goes.

The AEGON Masters Tennis runs from the 1st to the 6th of December at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The tournament uses a round-robin format, with all players playing at least three matches each. Each day of the tournament, except the final Sunday, features two sessions - an afternoon session starting at 1pm and an evening session starting at 7.30pm. All sessions will feature a combination of singles and doubles matches. The event is the final tournament in 2009 on the ATP Champions Tour - a circuit of former World Number One tennis players, Grand Slam singles finalists and Davis Cup winners. Each event can also invite two wild cards of their choice.

For tickets, click here or call the box office on: +44 (0) 20 8233 5880.