Furlan Shocks Bruguera for Senior Rome TrophyPosted on May 18, 2006 36-year-old Renzo Furlan, who reached a career-high No. 19 in 1996 on the ATP Rankings, thrilled the Rome crowd Wednesday night on his birthday with a 6-4, 4-6, 13-11 win over two-time French Open champion Sergi Bruguera to become the first Italian to win a Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions event.
Bruguera had beaten Furlan in all seven of their meetings on clay during their playing days on the ATP tour. For Bruguera it was his first senior loss of the year on clay after raising the Barcelona title three weeks ago. Bruguera, who could have unseated world No. 1 Marcelo Rios with the win, will have to settle for the No. 2 spot on the World Senior Rankings, while Furlan debuts at No. 7 tied with Richard Krajicek and Todd Martin. "I had a big opportunity to play with great players like Sergi, John McEnroe and Pat Cash this week," Furlan said. "These guys are part of the history of tennis so I'm really happy to win this tournament. I had a bad record against Sergi on clay. This is my first time beating him on clay so it's a great feeling." Furlan shocked John McEnroe in the final round robin match of his group to gain the final. The runner-up effort for Bruguera allowed him to bump Jim Courier from the No. 2 ranking. "It was great to play out here on the Campo Centrale in front of all the fans. Of course it's always a shame to lose but Furlan played very well especially at the end of the match today and he deserved it," Bruguera said. Cedric Pioline won the all-French face-off for 3rd/4th place, defeating Henri Leconte 6-2, 6-7(4), 11-9, taking him to the No. 3 ranking ahead of the No. 4 McEnroe, dropping Courier to No. 5. The next senior tour stop will be in Split, Croatia on Aug. 3-6, 2006. 2006 TENNIS-X.COM WORLD SENIOR RANKINGS (through May 17) 1. Marcelo Rios (800 pts.) 2. Sergi Bruguera (730) 3. Cedric Pioline (650) 4. John McEnroe (635) 5. Jim Courier (600) 6. Pat Cash (530) 7T. Renzo Furlan (400) 7T. Richard Krajicek (400) 7T. Todd Martin (400) 10. Thomas Muster (375) The Tennis-X.com World Senior Rankings is a cumulative ranking for senior tour players combining results from the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions in Europe, and the Outback Champions Series in the U.S. 2006 World Senior Tour Champions March 10-13, Naples, Florida, USA -- Jim Courier March 29-April 1, Doha, Qatar -- Marcelo Rios April 6-9, Hong Kong -- Marcelo Rios April 20-23, Barcelona, Spain -- Sergi Bruguera April 27-30, Boston, Massachusetts, USA - Todd Martin May 13-17, Rome, Italy -- Renzo Furlan Aug. 3-6, Split, Croatia -- ??? |
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