TENNIS NEWS FROM THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL INCLUDING AN UPDATE ON 10SBALLS FRIEND AND GLOBAL AMBASSADOR XAVIER MALISSE BY ROS SATAR

Written by: Staff on 4th December 2015

TENNIS NEWS FROM THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL INCLUDING AN UPDATE ON 10SBALLS FRIEND AND GLOBAL AMBASSADOR XAVIER MALISSE BY ROS SATAR |

Left to right: Pat Cash, Tim Henman, Xavier Malisse & Henri Leconte

Is there such a thing as being all tennised-out? Not if the chuckling crowds at the Royal Albert Hall for the Champions Tennis are anything to go by. With the injury of Sebastian Grosjean bringing doubles player Magnus Larsson into the mix, Former World No. 18 Xavier Malisse was ready to put on a show.

With a long rally to start with Malisse dictating from the back of the court, was this going to be a forgone conclusion? Not in the slightest as former Top 30 player and Davis Cup winning Swede made Malisse work for his win out there, pushing the Belgian player to a tie-break in the first set, and forcing him to come from behind to get the first set.

With the Aegon Crowd Call featuring at the tournament for the first time as well, Malisse and Larsson were having fun engaging the crowd to make up their mind if balls were in or out.

Malisse’s banter in particular would have the crowd chuckling, especially after umpire James Keothavong asked some particularly enthusiastic revellers in Hospitality to be quiet ahead of the Belgian’s serve, only for him to dump his serve in the net, and wryly comment ‘I play better with noise!”

Announcing his participation once more in September, Malisse said: “Last year was my first year at the tournament, it was a wonderful experience, and I am very much looking forward to returning.”

Judging from the giggles and chuckles he drew from the crowd, especially with two spectacularly disastrous drop-shot attempts, that was very much in evidence.

It was rather more pleasant to see the pleasant joshing between the players, the engaging of the crowd, Larsson offering balls to a ball-girl and then taking it away, all of which made for a pleasant afternoon on a crisp and sunny London.

With record ticket sales this year, the event continues to draw crowds who love another chance to see tennis on these shores. With a short grass court season culminating in the iconic Championships at the All England Club, and the ATP World Tour Finals hanging on to its place at the O2 for a few more years, the tournament provides the die-hard fans a chance to see some of the former players that perhaps ignited their interest back in the day,

Just chatting with someone in the box next to me, one of the highlights of their visit was being there to watch doubles and trick shot legend Mansour Bahrami, who partnered defending singles champion Fernando Gonzalez on Friday, following the singles.

Earlier in the week, the crowds already had a treat when Jamie Murray joined the doubles field as he partnered Mats Wilander.

Talking to ATPWorldTour.com, Murray said: “It is nice to play with those guys, they are all legends of the game,” said Murray. “It’s been cool to play at the Royal Albert Hall with it being such an iconic venue. You never normally associate it with sports, so it is something different and very cool.”

The Royal Albert Hall

Pride of place on the Friday singles slot went to James Blake v Younes El Aynaoui as well as a doubles card featuring Pat Cash/Mikael Pernfors v Henri Leconte and Mats Wilander.

Blake had already been in action in the afternoon session, losing in the Tie Break Tens qualifier to Malisse. It was our first chance to witness the quick-fire format as the players on the champions tour get a chance to qualify for the main event on Saturday evening, where they will go up against Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund, David Ferrer and Tim Henman, not forgetting John McEnroe!

The new format will be the highlight of Saturday’s play allowing Murray one more chance to play on home soil, before he combines his Dubai training block with his second appearance at the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) for the OUE Singapore Slammers.

Ten matches will be contested over a first-to-ten point tie-break with the six men in two groups of three playing in a round robin format. The top two players in each group will advance to the semi-finals, and the winner takes all – $250,000 to be precise.

Champions Tennis is the season-finale to the ATP Champions Tour, played over five days with two sessions each day in the afternoon and the evening, with the final to be played on Sunday.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Atp World Tour, Champions Tennis, Men's tennis, Royal Albert Hall, Sports, Tennis News, Xavier Malisse

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

December 4, 2015 at 11:47 am

#Tennis News From The #RoyalAlbertHall Including An Update On 10sBalls’ Friend And Global Ambassador @xmalissesite
https://t.co/QlrIaS2CK7
xmalissesite says:

December 4, 2015 at 12:54 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: #Tennis News From The #RoyalAlbertHall Including An Update On 10sBalls’ Friend And Global Ambassador @xmalissesite
https:…
britwatchsports says:

December 4, 2015 at 1:21 pm

Over at the Royal Albert Hall for the Champions Tennis – @rfsatar writing for @10sBalls_com

https://t.co/eCByum1hvZ
yarrumydna says:

December 4, 2015 at 2:45 pm

RT @britwatchsports: Over at the Royal Albert Hall for the Champions Tennis – @rfsatar writing for @10sBalls_com

https://t.co/eCByum1hvZ