Rios v Muster Saturday at Seniors Paris

Posted on September 16, 2006

30-year-old Marcelo Rios punched the clock for another win on Friday at the ATP Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions stop in Paris, bullying Pat Cash 6-2, 6-3 on the claycourts, advancing to a 2-0 record in round robin play and a likely fifth final in his fifth event of 2006.

Rios is 18-0 in match play with four titles this year on the senior tour. The Chilean must win his Saturday match against former French Open champ Thomas Muster to reach the final -- an encounter that might otherwise prove worthy if Muster wasn't already suffering from a stiff neck.

Muster came back from a set down to beat Richard Krajicek 2-6, 6-3, 11-9 (tiebreak), putting himself in a position to reach the final if he can beat Rios.

"He's got to lose some time, so maybe it will be tomorrow," said Muster of Rios. "I got close in Graz -- two tiebreaks, so we will see what happens."

The victor of Rios-Muster is likely to meet Goran Ivanisevic in the final, with the Croatian raising his round robin record to 2-0 Friday after a narrow 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 win over homecountry favorite Cedric Pioline.

No. 4-ranked Sergi Bruguera has seen his fortunes plummet since winning the Barcelona title in April, with the Spaniard on Friday dropping to 0-2 in round robin play after a straight-set loss on his favorite surface against Guy Forget.

Sporting a combination of wild Charlie Manson-style locks and facial hair, Bruguera looks to be challenging Rios for the Martina Hingis-inspired title of the player who looks like he "just walked out of the forest."

On court Saturday are Muster vs. Rios, Forget vs. Pioline in an all-French, Bruguera vs. Ivanisevic, and Cash vs. Krajicek.

WORLD SENIOR RANKINGS presented by Tennis-X.com
(through Sept. 10, 2006)

1. Marcelo Rios (1600 pts.)
2. John McEnroe (965)
3. Thomas Muster (750)
4. Sergi Bruguera (730)
5. Cedric Pioline (650)
6. Pat Cash (610)
7. Jim Courier (600)
8T. Renzo Furlan (400)
8T. Richard Krajicek (400)
8T. Todd Martin (400)
8T. Car-Uwe Steeb (400)
12. Henri Leconte (390)
13. Goran Ivanisevic (325)
14. Carlos Costa (250)
15. Mats Wilander (220)

The World Senior Rankings presented by Tennis-X.com 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.