Ivanisevic set to defend his AEGON Masters Tennis title

Added on: November 29, 2011

Goran Ivanisevic has his sights set on successfully defending the AEGON Masters Tennis title when the ATP Champions Tour event gets underway at the Royal Albert Hall in London tomorrow.

Now in its 15th year, the tournament will see Ivanisevic (pictured above – credit Tim Edwards) go up against old rivals Tim Henman, Mark Philippoussis, Thomas Enqvist and Fabrice Santoro. He opens the tournament when he meets Enqvist at 1pm tomorrow.

John McEnroe, Pat Cash, Henri Leconte and Richard Krajicek will also be competing against each other in a separate Legend’s group, with an all-star doubles line-up, featuring Mansour Bahrami, as a dessert.

“My memories from last year are special because I won the tournament after trying so many times before,” said Ivanisevic, who lost out in the final in 2006.

“Last year I didn’t get injured which was very important and it’s great to be back to try to defend the title. The main thing is to stay healthy and have fun with the guys. The Royal Albert Hall is different from all the other places that we play. For me it’s a great place to play. It’s an honour to be here.”

The Croatian, who won his only Grand Slam title in heart-warming scenes at Wimbledon 10 years ago, can’t wait to get to grips with Philippoussis on Saturday, but first Enqvist tomorrow.

“It’s the group of the bombs!” he said. “The bomb group! There’s going to be a lot of big serves on this court. My record against my first opponent on Wednesday, Thomas Enqvist is not great and then on Saturday against Mark Philippoussis it’s another bomb match but it’s going to be fun. I’m fit, ready and looking forward to it.”

As well as having a 3-5 record against Enqvist, he knows it will not be easy even if he gets through his group.

“There so many guys that will be a threat to defending my title,” said Ivanisevic. “The guys in my group and then in the other group are going to be tough, people like Fabrice Santoro who only stopped playing last year, Tim Henman and Younes El Aynaoui who’s always fun, healthy and in good shape. Anyone can win, so it’s going to be interesting.”

Back to News