Ivanisevic Targets Unbeaten Enqvist at Bogota Launch

In 2009, Thomas Enqvist bulldozed all before him, winning three tournaments and completing his maiden ATP Champions Tour season undefeated. At the launch of the first ever Tour event to be held in Bogota, Colombia, which starts today, Goran Ivanisevic set his sights on beating the Swede if they meet in Sunday's final.

“I’m very happy to be back in Colombia after 22 years,” said Ivanisevic. “My aim as always is to win the tournament. I will just play my game and it will depend on me whether I win or not. The field here is very good, especially with Thomas Enqvist who was unbeaten on the Tour last year. If I play him in the final then that will be a challenge for me.”

Ivanisevic, Pat Cash and Wayne Ferreira were all in attendance at the launch of the Seguros Bolivar Champions Tennis, which is the hottest ticket in town in Bogota this week. The 5000-seat stadium at The Pueblo Viejo Country Club where the tournament will be held is already sold out for the four days of the event. The tournament will see Cash, Ivanisevic and John McEnroe battling it out on South America’s finest clay courts.

Ivanisevic has plenty to prove after he narrowly lost out in the final of last week’s Zurich Open to Stefan Edberg. The Croatian has been drawn in to Group B alongside Cash, former South African Number One Wayne Ferreria and Colombian Davis Cup hero Mauricio Hadad. For Cash, this is a first visit to Columbia, and one that he has been looking forward to.

“I’m very excited to be in Colombia for the first time,” he said. “From what I’ve heard of the city I think it will be a fun week and there’s a great field playing at the event. If I play McEnroe it will be in the final so that is something to aim for. It’s always great to beat John.”

Enqvist, who not finished atop the South African Airways Rankings in 2009, comes in as a late replacement for Mark Philippoussis, who was forced to withdraw from the tournament with a neck injury. Enqvist is drawn into a tough Group A alongside Delray Beach finalist McEnroe, former World Number One Yevgeny Kafelnikov and former Colombian Davis Cup captain Jaime Cortez.

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.

After Bogota, the ATP Champions Tour will move on to Sao Paulo, Brazil and Barcelona, Spain.