Rios Wins 6th Consecutive Seniors Title

Until the senior tour adds a grasscourt tournament and forces Marcelo Rios to play it, the Chilean may well go undefeated.

The fast indoor courts were supposed to slow Rios this week at the Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions in Eindhoven, but after defeating three former Wimbledon champions, and an injured Wayne Ferreira 6-3, 6-1 in the Sunday final, the 30-year-old Chilean has now captured six titles in six tournament appearances in 2006.

"It's not going to be easy," said Rios of finishing the year undefeated, with two remaining events on his scheduled at Frankfurt and the Merill Lynch year-end championships in London in December. "You can see these guys are training now, but that's what I like. They are pushing me and that's what I want. I might not be able to do it."

In round robin play Rios defeated Wimbledon champs Pat Cash, Michael Stich and Richard Krajicek, dropping only one set against Krajicek.

Ferreira kept up with Rios in the final until 3-3 in the first set when he felt a stabbing pain in his back, and won only one more game during the match.

"It's tough when suddenly you stop thinking about the game and more about the injury," Ferreira said. "Four matches were a little tough for me -- I haven't really played for two years, but if I'm going to continue doing this, I now know what I need to do. I hope I get some more chances. I had a great week, enjoyed myself hugely and hopefully people enjoyed watching me play."

In the 3rd/4th place playoff, Krajicek beat Goran Ivanisevic 6-4, 7-5.

Rios almost doubles his point total over No. 2-ranked John McEnroe with the win on the World Senior Rankings, Ferreira rises to No. 11, and Krajicek with his third-place win moves into the Top 10.

The final regular-season stop on the ATP senior tour will be Nov. 16-19, preceded by a stop on the U.S. Outback Champions Tour on Nov. 8-12. Cancelled was the ATP senior event scheduled Oct. 19-22 in Dublin, Ireland.

WORLD SENIOR RANKINGS presented by Tennis-X.com
(Top 10 through Oct. 15, 2006)

1. Marcelo Rios (2400 pts.)
2. John McEnroe (1215)
3. Jim Courier (1080)
4. Sergi Bruguera (990)
5. Thomas Muster (875)
6. Pat Cash (870)
6T. Todd Martin (850)
6T. Cedric Pioline (850)
9. Goran Ivanisevic (700)
10. Richard Krajicek (680)

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.