Third Wimbledon Opponent Falls, Rios Into Senior Final

Posted on October 15, 2006

Marcelo Rios was known as a surly, difficult character during his years on tour. It took the senior tour, and an improbable return from a possibly career-ending groin injury, to lighten up the Chilean who is thoroughly enjoying his dominance on the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions in 2006.

On Saturday Rios faced his third consecutive former Wimbledon champ in Eindhoven, this time in the form of homecountry-supported Dutchman Richard Krajicek. The result was the same, this time albeit narrowly, and Rios improved to 3-0 in round robin play with a 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 (tiebreak) win to advance into the final.

For the match Rios took to the court in a PSV Eindhoven football shirt, and after the first set shouted across the net, "Have you been practicing Richard?"

Before the start of the event Krajicek had announced his intention of ending Rios unbeaten streak in 2006, to the extent of reuniting with his old coach who had helped him to the Wimbledon title during his ATP days.

"He's been practicing a lot -- he said he would before, and he did," Rios said of the big-serving Krajicek. "You can see it. That's the nice thing for me on this tour -- that the players are training harder to try to beat me. I enjoy it."

Krajicek said he was close to the win until Rios turned the momentum around in the middle of the second set.

"Marcelo was a little flustered when I won the first set," Krajicek said. "I played a good level of tennis at the start -- it was like the good old days. But I made a mistake. At 2-all, 15-30, second serve on his serve in the second set, I changed my tactics -- tried to chip and charge like I used to do rather than just getting the ball back in play. That was stupid. He passed me, regained his confidence and composure, and I lost my precision. Suddenly I couldn't use my serve as a weapon any more."

In Sunday's final Rios will attempt his sixth senior title of 2006 in six events against Wayne Ferreira, who also came from a set down to beat Goran Ivanisevic 3-6, 6-1, 10-5.

Other winners Saturday in round robin play were Paul Haarhuis (d. Henri Leconte) and Michael Stich (d. Pat Cash).

WORLD SENIOR RANKINGS presented by Tennis-X.com
(Top 10 through Oct. 8, 2006)

1. Marcelo Rios (2000 pts.)
2. John McEnroe (1215)
3. Jim Courier (1080)
4. Sergi Bruguera (990)
5. Thomas Muster (875)
6T. Todd Martin (850)
6T. Cedric Pioline (850)
8. Pat Cash (810)
9. Goran Ivanisevic (575)
10. Magnus Larsson (525)

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.