Unbeaten Enqvist Faces Ultimate Challenge In Bogota Final

Thomas Enqvist maintained his unbeaten ATP Champions Tour career and booked his place in a fourth consecutive final after seeing off the challenge of Yevgeny Kafelnikov 6-4, 6-4 to secure a first place finish in Group B in Bogota.

Enqvist, who has now won 15 matches in a row since joining the ATP Champions Tour, will face his regular Tour nemesis Wayne Ferreira in Sunday’s final. Ferreira held a 6-1 record against the Swede during their professional careers, and his path to the final was confirmed with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Goran Ivanisevic, a win that assured him top spot in Group A. The defeat to Ferreira put an end to a miserable tournament for Zurich Open finalist Ivanisevic, who has struggled all week to get to grips with the demands of high altitude tennis.

Enqvist, by contrast, has coped ably with the physical demands, and is looking forward to the final.

“I’m starting to get more and more used to the conditions as the matches go on,” he said of the tournament, which is played 2,600 metres above sea-level. “I expect the same for tomorrow’s final as I expect for every match, to go out, enjoy myself and do my best.

Ferreira is feeling confident going in to Sunday’s final showdown with Enqvist.

“Physically I’m feeling fine and I feel like I’m playing well,” he said. “I was pretty confident going into this tournament because I felt like I had a good chance to beat the other guys in my group. The crowd here is great and that’s what it’s all about for us - seeing people get enjoyment out of tennis. Hopefully I can go that one step further tomorrow.”

On the subject of having the opportunity to put an end to Enqvist’s unbeaten ATP Champions Tour run, Ferreira was equally positive, having won the first six matches they ever played.

“Why can’t I be the man to beat him (on the ATP Champions Tour)?” he said. “There’s a first time for everything and I’ll certainly give it my best shot, that’s for sure.”

In the match to decide who leaves Bogota with the third place prize and 200 valuable South African Airways Rankings points, former World Number One Yevgeny Kafelnikov will play off against the tournament’s surprise package, Colombian native Mauricio Hadad. Hadad secured his place in the play-off with a topsy turvy 6-4, 1-6, 10-8 (Champions' Tie Break) win over Pat Cash. Despite losing to Enqvist today, Kafelnikov’s spot in the third place play-off was secured by his two previous round-robin wins over John McEnroe and Jaime Cortes.

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.