Davis Cup Captains To Clash In Sao Paulo Final On Sunday

The captains of two of the great Davis Cup nations will clash in the final of the Grand Champions Brasil in Sao Paulo on Sunday, after Sweden's Thomas Enqvist and France's Guy Forget completed a clean sweep of round robin victories to qualify at the top of their groups.

Enqvist moved a step closer to defending the debut title that he won in 2009 with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over South African Wayne Ferreira, while Forget impressively dispatched two-time Grand Slam Champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 (Champions' Tie Break) to book his own spot in the final. It will be the first time that Enqvist and Forget have faced off on the ATP Champions Tour.

Earlier in the week Forget, who has been captain of the French Davis Cup team for more than a decade, had been giving guidance to Enqvist, a relative newcomer to the role, on the stresses and strains of being at the helm of a Davis Cup team. In Sunday’s final however, all pleasantries will be put to one side as the two men tussle for the fifth ATP Champions Tour trophy of the year, and 400 South African Airways Ranking points.

Enqvist is thrilled to have the chance to defend his title in Sao Paulo, but expects a stern test from the 45 year-old Forget.

“I’m excited to be able to play another final here in Sao Paulo,” he said. “It’s really nice to be able to try and defend the title that I won here last year on my debut and I want to be able to give the crowd a good match. Guy is in fantastic shape and is still playing amazing tennis so it is definitely going to be tough. His serve is still so big which is going to make it difficult for me.”

For Forget, it is a first ATP Champions Tour final since the AEGON Masters Tennis in December 2007, and the Frenchman is delighted to be back in winning form.

“I didn’t expect to reach the final this week so I’m really happy,” he said. “It’s just nice to be playing because I haven’t played matches since September last year and now I have to face the big Swede Thomas Enqvist so that’s going to be another step up. Goran (Ivanisevic) is the only guy who’s beaten him on the Tour so far and he’s a big serving lefty like me so maybe that’s a good sign. It at least means I have a chance.

The match to decide third and fourth place in the 2010 Grand Champions Brasil will be contested by former World Number One Kafelnikov and Brazilian wildcard Jaime Oncins. Oncins qualified for the play-off match by virtue of a spectacular victory over Wayne Ferreira on Friday and Kafelnikov owes his place in the decider to his opening round robin victory over Paul Haarhuis, a win that guaranteed him second spot in Group B.

Matches in Sao Paulo 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.

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.