Marcos Baghdatis
A soggy day in Adelaide didn’t dampen spirits at the World Tennis Challenge night 1 with rain clearing in time for the event.
The change from having two courts in simultaneous action to one proved a winner with the crowd that was also buoyed with the introduction of on court LED lighting, audio and SFX.
Match one was a tightly contested three set event between current players Marcos Baghdatis (CYP) and Mikael Youzhny (RUS) with Baghdatis the eventual winner 4-6, 7-6, 10-5.
The second match of the evening featuring the legendary Goran Ivanisevic and Michael Chang was played using the new FAST4 rules. The ‘battle of the coaches’ showed that Ivanisevic has certainly not lost any of his serving power and Chang still has his speed. It was power over speed in the end with Ivanisevic taking out the match 4-2, 4-1.
Match 3 doubles saw Chang/Baghdatis v Ivanisevic/Youzhny. Playing to FAST4 rules, the game was nothing short of pure entertainment with the players and crowd clearly enjoying the fast and furious format. It was all Ivanisevic/Youzhny in the end with a 4-2, 1-4, 4-1 win.
Wednesday night is a sell-out, tickets are selling fast for Thursday from Ticketek.
Wednesday 14 January
Adelaide’s greatest ever player, Lleyton Hewitt returns to where it all began. Lleyton will play a special one off exhibition match v world no. 7 Tomas Berdych in what will most likely be his last ever appearance at Memorial Drive as a pro-player.
Lleyton Hewitt v Tomas Berdych (exhibition game) Regular scoring – best of 2 sets. Normal tie-break if 1 set all
Baghdatis v Luke Saville Regular scoring – best of 2 sets. Normal tie-break if 1 set all
Chang v McEnroe FAST4 scoring. Best of 3 x FAST4 sets.
Baghdatis / Chang v Saville/ McEnroe FAST4 Scoring – 1 x FAST4 set
Thursday 15 January
Youzhny v Saville Regular scoring – best of 2 sets. Normal tie-break if 1 set all
Ivanisevic v McEnroe FAST4 scoring. Best of 3 x FAST4 sets.
Youzhny / Ivanisevic v Saville / McEnroe FAST4 scoring. Best of 3 x FAST4 sets.
* schedule is subject to change
World Tennis Challenge 2015 tickets are now on sale. Tickets for the event start from $10.00 for children and $20.00 for adults and can be purchased online at www.ticketek.com.au/bookadelaide or call 13 28 49.
For further tournament information on how to participate in the WTC Be Active Challenge please visit www.worldtennischallenge.com and select the ‘Play Tennis’ tab. World Tennis Challenge is presented by the South Australian Government, through Events South Australia.
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