Roddick, Ivanisevic, Jan -Michael Gambill, Aaron Krickstein, Pernfors, and Wilander Play In Delray

Written by: Staff on 16th February 2014

Former world number one tennis player of Sweden Mats Wilander returns

Roddick, Ivanisevic, Jan -Michael Gambill, Aaron Krickstein, Pernfors, and Wilander Play In Delray

epa02420377 Former world number one tennis player of Sweden Mats Wilander returns the ball to former world number one Ivan Lendl of the Czech Republic during their Tennis Classics match in Papp Laszlo Sports Arena in Budapest, Hungary, 30 October 2010. EPA/IMRE FOELDI HUNGARY OUT Hungarian News Agency LTD. MTI |

DELRAY BEACH OPEN BY THE VENETIAN LAS VEGAS

ATP CHAMPIONS TOUR

14-16 FEBRUARY

DELRAY BEACH, FLORIDA,

Roddick sweeps to victory and eyes Ivanisevic clash

Andy Roddick rounded off a hugely successful day for Team USA in Delray Beach with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Team International’s Mikael Pernfors.

Pernfors was powerless in the face of Roddick’s booming serve and thunderous forehand, both of which were on sublime form under the lights at the Delray Beach Tennis Centre on Saturday evening.

Roddick will now have the opportunity to clinch a third victory for Team USA when he takes on Goran Ivanisevic for the first time since the the Croat beat him en route to winning the 2001 Wimbledon title, a match that Roddick remembers well.

‘I don’t know that I’ve been plotting my revenge against Goran for the past 13 years or anything, but I’m certainly looking forward to playing him tomorrow,’ he said. ‘Goran is such a great personality and he’s magnetic when he’s out on the court. That Wimbledon run was so memorable just because of his personality and the histrionics he had on court. I remember watching him go the whole way after I lost to him, it was incredible.’

Despite further wins for Team USA on Saturday coming from Aaron Krickstein and Jan Michael Gambill over Mats Wilander and Pernfors respectively, Ivanisevic did manage to salvage some respectability for Team International by defeating Florida resident Krickstein 6-7(5), 6-3, 10-4 in the day’s afternoon session. The Croatian struggled to cope with the blustery conditions in the first set, but soon found his range in the second and third and was able to fire enough serve and forehand winners to secure victory.

‘Go Team International’, said Ivanisevic after the match. ‘I really played bad in that first set and Aaron is so fit he was making it so tough. I just tried to hit through it, and luckily it started to come off. I’m glad I could get a win for the team because it was looking bad there for a while.’

Goran’s joy was complete shortly after coming off court in Delray Beach when he watched his pupil Marin Cilic reach a second consecutive ATP Tour final in Rotterdam, beating Igor Sijsling in three nerve-wracking sets to set up a final clash with Tomas Berdych.

Sunday’s order of play in Delray Beach sees Krickstein take on Pernfors as well as Wilander against Gambill. The spotlight will be occupied by Roddick and Ivanisevic however, who will battle it out in the third match of the day, starting at 3pm Eastern Time.

Goran Ivanisevic Twitter Chat

Goran Ivanisevic will today take part in a live Twitter chat with fans of the @ChampionsTennis Twitter feed. The 2001 Wimbledon champion will be on duty at 11:30 ET (16:30 GMT).

View Schedule – http://bit.ly/WfTZhA

Buy Tickets – http://www.yellowtennisball.com/tickets/

Video – What makes John McEnroe tick? - http://goo.gl/DZTkEf

Video – Watch Tim Henman and Goran Ivanisevic watch THAT Wimbledon semifinal … together -http://goo.gl/11ti2g

Video – See John McEnroe, Carlos Moya, Goran Ivanisevic in kilts in Edinburgh – http://goo.gl/QglZBu

Video – Facing Federer: Mark Philippoussis remembers his 2003 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer – http://goo.gl/vpo60h

Video – What’s in your bag? Tim Henman rummages through the belongings of one of his fellow ATP Champions Tour stars. But whose bag is it? – http://goo.gl/u8al7C

For other video content from the ATP Champion Tour, click here: http://www.atpchampionstour.com/multimedia/video-landing.aspx

Topics: 10sballs, Aaron Krickstein, Andy Roddick, Goran Ivanisevic, Jan Michael Gambill, John Mcenroe, Mark Philippoussis, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News