by Chester Stuart || Features
The ATP Champions Tour’s Champions Tennis event returned to the Royal Albert Hall today, kicking off four days of competitive tennis from some of the world’s greatest players in the iconic British venue until Sunday 28th November.
Today’s afternoon session saw Marcos Baghdatis defeat Tomas Berdych 4-3, 4-2, whilst Mark Philippoussis defeated Greg Rusedski 4-3, 4-1. In the doubles match Tommy Haas/Radek Stepanek defeated Xavier Malisse/Fernando Gonzalez 4-2, 1-4, 4-1.
In the evening session, Radek Stepanek defeated Nicolas Almagro 4-3, 4-1, whilst Tommy Haas defeated Mikhail Youzhny 4-1, 4-1. In the doubles match Thomas Enqvist/David Ferrer defeated Marcos Baghdatis/Greg Rusedski 4-2, 3-4, 4-1.
Champions Tennis sees players who have held the World No. 1 ranking, reached a Grand Slam singles final or been a singles player in a victorious Davis Cup team, compete in a mixture of team and individual events in both singles and doubles.
Across the four days some of the biggest legends of the game will take to the stage in front of a full house, including British star and US Open champion Emma Raducanu who will be facing Romanian and Hamburg European Open winner Elena-Gabriela Ruse. Other stars include British favourite Greg Rusedski, fan favourite Mansour Bahrami,, Chilean Fernando González, Spaniard David Ferrer, 2006 Australian Open runner up Marcos Baghdatis, and former doubles number four player Radek Štěpánek. Other players competing in the tournament include ‘X-Man’ Xavier Malisse, Australian legend Mark Philippoussis, 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomáš Berdych, former top-fiver Thomas Enqvist, former Russian number one Mikhail Youzhny, German Tommy Haas, Swede and Canada Masters winner Mikael Pernfors, and Spaniard Nicolás Almagro.
2021 also marks the last time the tournament is being held at the historic Royal Albert Hall, with this year’s tournament offering tennis lovers a fantastic final opportunity to watch legends of the game battle it out in the beautiful surroundings of this legendary building.
