Blake Practice Primes McEnroe For Rafter Final

An early evening practice session with James Blake inspired John McEnroe to put in a virtuoso performance and set up a final against Pat Rafter at the ATP Champions Tour event in Delray Beach in Florida on Sunday. (photo: Matt Dunn).

McEnroe smashed his way past the 1990 French Open champion Andres Gomez 6-2, 6-1 shortly after being primed for the clash by Blake, who will compete in the ATP World Tour event which starts on Monday. With the win, McEnroe guaranteed his place against Rafter in Tuesday's final after both maintained their 100% round-robin record. Rafter dismissed Aaron Krickstein 6-3, 6-2.

McEnroe and Blake are separated by 21 years in age, but they came together to bridge the gap between tennis’ generations, showcasing the best of the ATP Champions Tour and the ATP World Tour for the hoards of fans and media who had gathered to catch a glimpse of the pair in action.

“That practice was a lot harder than I’m used to!” said McEnroe. “Every now and then it’s fun to get out there and play with a guy like James but the body takes a beating so I don’t want to do it too often! It was fun though. The ball’s coming at you at Mach 2 speed so it’s definitely an eye-opener and it really makes you realise how the game has changed.”

McEnroe added that the practice session against Blake had prepared him well for Tuesday’s final against Pat Rafter, a player 14 years his junior.

“Blake hits the ball so hard that it will probably really help for Tuesday,” he said. “It certainly shook me up because the guys like James hit the ball so hard now and Rafter plays along those lines. "

Blake, who is seeded 7th in the ATP World Tour event at the Delray Beach ITC, paid tribute to his legendary practice partner.

“I’ve played with John a few times before and it’s always a pleasure to play with him and a treat to see him,” he said. “It’s something a kid never expects because when I was growing up he was number one in the world. It’s amazing the shape he’s kept himself in to be able to still practice and play and hang with anyone in the world. It’s really a tribute to how hard he’s worked since he retired.”

McEnroe is fired up for his first ever chance to play Rafter. They never met during their professional careers.

"I’m feeling really good about the final," said McEnroe. "Pat’s who I wanted to play, but he’s also the toughest guy to play. When I watch Pat play it reminds me of what I was doing when I was younger and it’s fun to see the serve-volleyers out on the court again.”

Having required less than an hour to dispose of Gomez, McEnroe also kept some fuel in the tank, with one more round-robin match against Johan Kriek still to play.

“I’m trying to peak for Tuesday,” said McEnroe. “I feel like things are moving along well for me this week and I’m just trying to save as much as possible for Tuesday’s match because I know it’s going to be a tall order. Pat’s moving great and he’s in great shape so it’s going to take a special effort from me that’s for sure but hopefully the crowd will get behind the old guy!”.

In the day's other matches, Pat Cash defeated Ronald Agenor 2-6, 6-3, 10-8 (Champions’ Tie Break) to move to second place in Group B and put himself within shooting distance of a place in Tuesday’s third place play-off match. Mats Wilander did the same in Group A with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over American Johan Kriek.

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 Tuesday's final.

After Delray Beach, the ATP Champions Tour will move on to Zurich for the inaugural BNP Paribas Zurich Open (March 9-13), and after that will arrive in Bogota, Columbia for the city’s first ever ATP Champions Tour event (March 18-21).

To view the order of play and the round-robin groups, click here.

For tickets to see McEnroe play in Delray Beach, click here.