Enqvist Eyes Title Defence; ATP Champions Tour Joins Facebook

Thomas Enqvist arrives at the fourth annual Grand Champions Brasil in Sao Paulo this week intending to retain the maiden tour title he won in such style this time last year.

It was in Sao Paulo in 2009 that Enqvist made his whirlwind breakthrough on the ATP Champions Tour, winning all four of his matches and defeating Brazilian Fernando Meligeni in the final. From there, he embarked upon a winning-streak of 17 matches. It wasn’t until the final of the Champions Cup in Barcelona last month that Enqvist’s run came to a halt against Goran Ivanisevic.

If he is to defend his title in Sao Paulo, Enqvist may have to overcome the challenge of old rival Yevgeny Kafelnikov, the man who dashed his Grand Slam dreams in the final of the 1999 Australian Open. The two are drawn in separate groups for the round robin stages of the Grand Champions Brasil, meaning that they may once again face-off in Sunday’s final, just as they did in Melbourne in 2009 when Kafelnikov was the victor in four sets.

Enqvist is drawn in Group A alongside talented South African Wayne Ferreira and former Brazilian Davis Cup player Jaime Oncins. Group B is comprised of former World Number One Kafelnikov, French Davis Cup captain Guy Forget and six-time Grand Slam doubles champion Paul Haarhuis.

Going in to the Grand Champions Brasil, which this year will be held at the Golden Hall in Sao Paulo’s World Trade Centre, Enqvist lies in second place in the South African Airways Tour rankings, just 80 points behind Ivanisevic, with Ferreira hot on their heels in third spot. So, with 400 points on offer for the winner, everything is to play for, especially for Ferreira and Enqvist who could find themselves atop the Rankings on Sunday.

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.

Sao Paulo is the fifth of ten stops on the ATP Champions Tour in 2010, which culminates with a season-ending AEGON Masters event at London’s Royal Albert Hall from 30th November to 5th December. The season began in February in Delray Beach, where Pat Rafter beat John McEnroe in the final. At the second event in Zurich in March, Stefan Edberg overcame Goran Ivanisevic in three sets. Following that Enqvist beat Ferreira in the final in Bogotá, having swept through the tournament without the loss of a set. At the most recent event in Barcelona, Enqvist saw his unbeaten run halted in the final by Ivanisevic. After Barcelona, the tour will also call in at Graz, Austria, followed by events in Algarve (Portugal), Paris (France) and London (UK).

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

The ATP Champions Tour Joins Facebook Community

The ATP Champions Tour has joined a community of more than 350 million people worldwide after an official ATP Champions Tour Facebook Page was set up, it was announced today.

The Tour’s page on the hugely popular social networking site will provide up-to-date results and news from all the ATP Champions Tour events, and will also be a source for unique photos, behind-the-scenes videos and exclusive information about the Tour.

The page launches with an exclusive video of Tour regulars - Sergi Bruguera, Thomas Enqvist, Wayne Ferreira and Goran Ivanisevic making their predictions for the men’s and ladies’ title at this year’s French Open. To view the video, or to become a fan of the ATP Champions Tour on Facebook, visit Facebook.