Thank you to all who contributed to such a great cause!

The Sport Relief sketch featuring Tim Henman and Miranda Hart at the AEGON Masters is now available via the Locker Room page of this website.

To book tickets, call the box office on 020 7070 4404, or book online.

For more information about Sport Relief, go to: http://www.sportrelief.com

Henman, who defeated Thomas Enqvist in last year’s final, starred in a special sketch for Sport Relief on Friday night with comedienne Miranda Hart, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, footballers Robbie Savage and Michael Owen, and Olympic athletes Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis. The sketch was filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in December as part of the AEGON Masters Tennis event.

Henman is looking forward to returning to the Royal Albert Hall for the 2012 event and happy that a quarter of ticket sales made during the week benefited Sport Relief, which aims to change lives for the better both in the UK and across the world’s poorest countries.

“There’s nowhere in the world quite like the Royal Albert Hall to play tennis, it’s wonderful, and I had a great time filming the sketch with Miranda and the others at last year’s event,” said Henman. “It’s a fantastic gesture from the tournament to donate part of ticket sales to such a great cause as Sport Relief. I hope that everyone buys their tickets this week to raise as much money as possible.”

To book tickets, call the box office on 020 7070 4404, or book online.

For more information about Sport Relief, go to: http://www.sportrelief.com

Henman, who defeated Thomas Enqvist in last year’s final, stars in a special sketch for Sport Relief on Friday night with comedienne Miranda Hart, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, footballers Robbie Savage and Michael Owen, and Olympic athletes Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis. The sketch was filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in December as part of the AEGON Masters Tennis event.

Henman is looking forward to returning to the Royal Albert Hall for the 2012 event and happy that a quarter of ticket sales this week will benefit Sport Relief, which aims to change lives for the better both in the UK and across the world’s poorest countries.

“There’s nowhere in the world quite like the Royal Albert Hall to play tennis, it’s wonderful, and I had a great time filming the sketch with Miranda and the others at last year’s event,” said Henman. “It’s a fantastic gesture from the tournament to donate part of ticket sales this week to such a great cause as Sport Relief. I hope that everyone buys their tickets this week to raise as much money as possible.”

To book tickets, call the box office on 020 7070 4404, or book online.

Call before MIDNIGHT ON SUNDAY and quote ‘9976’ to ensure that 25% of the proceeds go to Sport Relief.

For more information about Sport Relief, go to: http://www.sportrelief.com

The new addition to the MANTIS team comes on the back of a successful first full year in the market, which has also seen them become the official tennis racket and ball partner to the AEGON Masters Tennis Championship.

Rusedski, a US Open finalist, former World number 4 and Great Britain Davis cup star, will play a major role in future product development and an active part in the testing of new MANTIS ranges.

The Wimbledon quarter finalist will be using a MANTIS Tour 305 racket in his day to day role as a talent and performance ambassador for the Lawn Tennis Association.

Rusedski, said; “I am delighted to be joining the MANTIS team as an ambassador for this exciting new British brand.”

“The passion, attention to detail and love of tennis was apparent from the first conversation I had with the guys at MANTIS. Great rackets just have that feel about them the moment you pick them up for the first time and for me, it was definitely the case with the MANTIS frame.”

Despite being a relatively new brand MANTIS have had a fantastic response both in the UK and internationally, with their philosophy of producing products of exceptional quality at vastly superior prices at the heart of their core values.

Martin Aldridge, Founder and Managing Director of MANTIS, said; “The signing of Greg Rusedski as brand ambassador demonstrates our commitment to the expansion of MANTIS in the coming years.

“Greg’s expert knowledge and his experience in the game at the highest level will be invaluable moving forward as we continue to extend our portfolio of high quality products.”

For more information about MANTIS go to www.facebook.com/mantissports
Follow MANTIS on twitter @MANTISsport

The former British number one’s only previous tournament victory in the UK came at an indoor event in Brighton back in 2000. During his playing career competing in London, Henman also reached four Wimbledon semifinals and finished runner-up at The Queen’s Club three occasions.

Henman’s maiden ATP Champions Tour tournament win comes in only his third event, and for the most part, it did not look in doubt as he broke Enqvist convincingly to take the first set.

The Swede, who also lost to the Brit at the Royal Albert Hall last year raised his game in the second and served for the set at 6-5, however Henman stormed back to take the match in the resulting tie-break.

“I’ve had a great week and I would like to thank all the fans that came out,” said Henman.

“I’ve really enjoyed the event and hopefully I’ll be back again next year and play a few more tournaments on the ATP Champions Tour.”

Enqvist managed to top Group B in the tournament, securing emphatic victories over Mark Philippoussis and Goran Ivanisevic, but admitted Henman proved too good.

“Tim played a great match and he’s got such a great touch on the court. I thought I played a good match but I didn’t serve enough aces to make it count. It’s an honour to play here and an absolute pleasure. I hope to be back next year.”

The match completed a fantastic week of tennis at the Royal Albert Hall, with crowds coming out in great numbers.

The event returns to the Royal Albert Hall, 5-9 December next year. The 2012 calendar begins in Florida with the popular event in Delray Beach, February 24-28.

Click here to view results and the schedule for the week at the Royal Albert Hall.

Having narrowly lost to the Australian in the round robin stage of the Legend’s group on Thursday, McEnroe turned the tables in the final, outplaying Cash who appeared to be suffering with an injury.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion broke Cash’s serve in the third and fifth games of the first set to secure the opener. Cash switched rackets in the hope of a change luck in the second and began to serve with greater consistency, but McEnroe eventually secured a crucial break in the seventh game before taking the match.

“I never thought I’d win another title here,” said the three-time Wimbledon champion. “The people here have been fantastic to me. It’s a great place to play tennis and maybe myself and Pat can have a rematch here next year. It means a lot that people still want to watch me play and to win here again is unbelievable.”

The Legends event, comprising an older group of players, was run side-by-side with the ATP Champions tournament. Tim Henman takes on Thomas Enqvist in the final of the ATP Champions Tour event.

Goran And WBA Together At Last

Goran Ivanisevic won his race against time to get from the Royal Albert Hall to see West Bromwich Albion for the first time and completed an almost perfect day by watching his team grab a late equaliser on Saturday. He was then invited into the dressing room to meet Head Coach Roy Hodgson and the team.

To watch Goran’s manic journey, reaction to watching his first Premiership goal, and to see him meet the team, click here

If you would like to download footage of Goran’s trip for broadcast, it is available here

McEnroe beat former French Open finalist Henri Leconte 6-3 6-1 in a winner-take-all clash, meaning he will now face Pat Cash in Sunday’s Legends final. In the evening session, Henman defeated ATP Champions Tour debutant Fabrice Santoro 6-4 6-4 in front of a capacity Royal Albert Hall crowd. The former British number one will now contest the singles final against Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist.

“It’s great to get through to the final here in London after losing my first match in the tournament,” said McEnroe, who lost one of the best matches the Royal Albert Hall has seen against Cash in the round-robin stages. “I’ve played against Pat so many times before and we both play similar styles. The support I’ve had here has been great and I love playing here.”

In a crowd pleasing spectacle, Henman and Santoro reminded us all why they were so popular during their ATP World Tour days with both playing attacking tennis at the net. The French magician, known for his unusual two-handed style, was finally broken in the tenth game of the second set.

“He’s unique to face and we probably won’t see another player like him again,” the four-time Wimbledon semifinalist Henman said. “This surface is quick, it’s good to come forward and play serve and volley tennis. We don’t see it that much now so hopefully we entertained the people who came to watch.”

Looking ahead to his opponent in Sunday’s final, Henman has a 2-4 losing record against Enqvist, however the Brit did defeat the Swede 6-3 3-6 10-7 in the quarterfinals of last year’s competition at the Royal Albert Hall.

“Thomas is playing really well and he is in good shape. I’m going to have my work cut again and I’m going to have to remember the good times when I played well against him! It will be a good match and I’m looking forward to the final.” (trophy image above: credit – Ondrej Pycha on behalf of Lasvit)

Earlier on day four, Mark Philippoussis beat an injured Goran Ivanisevic 7-6 6-2 in Group B of the ATP Champions Tour singles competition.

On Wightman Cup Night at the Royal Albert Hall, Cash maintained his 100% record in the group stages with a 6-7 (6) 7-6 (4) 10-8 win over Henri Leconte, and McEnroe saw off Richard Krajicek 6-3, 7-5.

McEnroe will now face Leconte on Saturday with the winner facing Cash in Sunday’s final.

“I’m going to do everything I can to keep it going because the fans are fantastic here,” said McEnroe. “It’s good to play well and get the victory but I still have a tough match tomorrow.”

Having lost both of his matches so far, Leconte is still upbeat he can make the final. He also revealed that Friday brought back special memories for him.

“It was a great match against Pat and I really enjoyed it. It’s funny because it’s been twenty years since I won the Davis Cup on the same Friday and I played a great match today. I haven’t played like that for a long time and hopefully I can do it against John. It was really intense to play two hours of tennis.”

Cash is looking to add to the Royal Albert Hall crown he won in 2000, and a more relaxed approach to the tournament has paid off for the Australian.

“It’s funny how it goes really. Sometimes, the less you try the better it goes,” said the serve and volleyer. “I’ve worked on a lot of stuff over the summer and I feel in pretty good nick. Each match I’ve played has been really close and each one could have gone either way. Henri is such an unpredictable player to face and it’s hard to know when he’s going to flash a few winners. He was on a hot streak and sometimes you’ve just got to hope he cools down and lets you back in. That was the case. The rest period for me tomorrow ahead of Sunday’s final will be key as I’ve had three long matches, haven’t played a lot of tennis this year and most of them have gone the distance.”

Friday night saw a special celebration of the Wightman Cup at the Royal Albert Hall. Played between 1923 and 1989, the annual event saw the United States take on Great Britain with many of the ties played at the Royal Albert Hall. To mark the occasion, ten of the Wightman Cup’s stars were invited, including Jo Durie, Virginia Wade and Christine Janes.

Elsewhere on day three, Fabrice Santoro made his debut on the ATP Champions Tour, defeating Younes El Aynaoui in another thrilling match. Santoro will meet Tim Henman on Saturday with the winner going through to face Thomas Enqvist in the Champions final.

Goran Targets Perfect Saturday

Goran Ivanisevic will be in a race against time on Saturday as he tries to beat Mark Philippoussis and then watch his favourite British football team West Bromwich Albion in action against Queen’s Park Rangers.

Ivanisevic, who has been a fan of the Premier League team since 2005, will be on court at 1pm in the AEGON Masters Tennis tournament at the Royal Albert Hall. He will have a car waiting outside as he makes a dash to watch his team in the flesh for the first time.

“I’m not going to believe that I am finally watching West Brom live until I am there and I actually see them come on to the pitch!” said Ivanisevic.

“It’s going to be a race against time, but it’s my first live game and I’ve been waiting for this for a long time and I hope I make it. I need to try to win my match first but for sure I want to ‘Boing’ (WBA’s signature, bouncing celebration). If there’s a lot of Boinging it means we will be scoring a lot of goals. We will show great spirit like always. We need this win.”

The Croatian, who won Wimbledon at the fourth attempt amidst emotional scenes in 2001, was given his first WBA shirt in the summer of 2005 after adopting them as his team.

He wore his shirt, signed by the team, during a final at the Royal Albert Hall in 2006 and follows their results every week.

For the full story of how Goran became a fan, and to watch him ‘Boing’ click here.

Live coverage of Ivanisevic vs. Philippoussis and John McEnroe vs. Henri Leconte will be shown on ITV4 from 1pm British time in the UK on Saturday.

You don’t have to wait! Tickets to 2012 AEGON Masters Tennis are on sale now at 2011 prices!

Book your tickets now!

Having narrowly lost the first set to the big serving Dutchman in a tie-break, Cash dug deep and managed to level the match. Cash, a winner of the Royal Albert Hall title in 2000, played attacking tennis to secure the match-determining decider.

Victory for the Australian prepares him nicely for his next match, tomorrow evening’s highly anticipated battle against John McEnroe. However, before they meet, Krajicek will face talented Frenchman Henri Laconte, who completes the four-man legend’s field.

Krajicek, who was the only player to beat Pete Sampras in a Wimbledon singles match during an eight-year period from 1993 to 2001, can understand why serve and volley tennis is rarely used these days on the ATP World Tour.

“It’s much more difficult to serve and volley now because you play on different surfaces, and the game has changed,” he said. “It’s always nice to see different styles of play but I can’t think of too many serve and volley players at the moment, apart from the likes of Michael Llodra and Mardy Fish.”
Krajicek On Murray

The former world number four also backed Britain’s Andy Murray to win his first Grand Slam title next year, paying tribute to his ‘big game’.

“He can put a lot of pressure on opponents from the back of the court and he has the skill to come in after a shot. I don’t think Andy needs to be a serve and volley player but I don’t think he realises how big his game is. He’s had a pretty good year, winning three tournaments in a row in Asia, and if Roger Federer hadn’t finished the way he did then Andy would have ended the year as world number three.”

“I predicted this year that he was going to win his first Grand Slam title so I’ll predict it again – he will win his first slam next year! I think he’s going to win a few, and he might be a bit like Ivan Lendl and take a while to win that first one, but once he does he can go on from there. The way he played against Rafael Nadal in the first set of their semifinal at Wimbledon this year is as good as anybody I’ve seen play.”

Elsewhere, in the Champions tournament, Thomas Enqvist shocked the defending champion Goran Ivanisevic 4-6, 6-2, 10-6 (Champions’ Tie-Break), and Tim Henman saw off Younes El Aynaoui 6-4, 4-6, 10-4 (Champions’ Tie-Break).