JAMES BLAKE & TIGER TIM HENMAN TURN BACK THE CLOCK & XAVIER X-MAN MALISSE JOINS THE TIE BREAK TENS LINEUP BY ROS SATAR

Written by: Staff on 5th December 2015

JAMES BLAKE & TIGER TIM HENMAN TURN BACK THE CLOCK & XAVIER X-MAN MALISSE JOINS THE TIE BREAK TENS LINEUP BY ROS SATAR |

Next game up is #Henman vs. #Blake @atpchampionstour @champions_tennis – Photo by @champions_tennis via Instagram.

If the Friday day session belonged to the enigmatic, fun-loving Xavier Malisse, Friday night and Saturday afternoon were all about business, as James Blake had to outsmart Younes El Aynaoui (with the hindrance and help of his daughter) and on SaturdayTiger Tim Henman rolled back the clock, again at the expense of El Aynaoui.

It was hard to believe that these guys had ever been off the tour, as they had us live every point with them, and perhaps the cutest point of Friday night was when Blake’s daughter decided to join in the Aegon Crowd Call… alas the little poppet decided to vote against daddy. Ooops grounded – no Christmas visit to Hamleys for you! She got the hang of it, and at El Aynaoui pleading a line call, she decided she would vote in daddy’s favour!

Saturday afternoon saw British national treasure Tim Henman take on the Moroccan who was in for a busy time. Do you remember those days when the entre crowd of Centre Court would groan at an unforced error, or a double-fault? Yep, they remember too, as Henman put up his hands after such a criminal blow, but he had the edge over El Aynaoui to the end in another tight match.

Back in action immediately against yesterday’s Tie Break Tens qualifier Malisse, the Belgian roared into a lead before being pegged back, but just kept that important nudge ahead to seal his place in the Tie Break Tens line-up 11-9.

So onto the main event for Saturday night – first off it will give the crowd a chance to give a well-deserved hero’s welcome to Andy Murray and Kyle Edmund – part of our historic Davis Cup winning team, but more to see if John McEnroe’s fighting words are going to come up to scratch!

He said: “Part of these guys is thinking ‘give me a piece of McEnroe, he’s going to be half the speed. The other part is thinking ‘how embarrassing would it be to lose to Mac at 56?!’ So I have that going for me. When you’re playing an entire match in 10 minutes you have the proverbial puncher’s chance. So Andy, I may be a bit older than you, but I hope you’re ready, because I will be!”

The transformation is underway for @tiebreaktens tonight! Catch all the action on @skysports at 6pm – Photo by @champions_tennis via Instagram.

The full line-up for Saturday night is:

Group 1: John McEnroe, Tim Henman, Xavier Malisse

Group 2: Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund, David Ferrer.

The ten matches will be:

1. Tim Henman vs. John McEnroe

2. Kyle Edmund vs. Andy Murray

3. Tim Henman vs. Xavier Malisse

4. David Ferrer vs. Andy Murray

5. John McEnroe vs. Xavier Malisse

6. Kyle Edmund vs. David Ferrer

7. Semi-final 1 (Winner of Group 1 vs. Runner-up Group 2)

8. Semi-final 2 (Winner of Group 2 vs. Runner-up Group 1)

9. 3rd/4th Place Play-off

10. Final

From what we’ve seen watching the qualifying sessions, there is no place for the slow start here – and it should make for an exciting line-up on Saturday night.

Ros Satar is a regular contributor to 10sballs.com and runs Britwatch Sports (@britwatchsports), because we Brits like watching sport. Occasionally we’re good at it.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Champions Tennis, James Blake, Ros Satar, Royal Albert Hall, Sports, Tennis News, Tim Henman, Xavier Malisse, Younes El Aynaoui

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10sBalls_com says:

December 5, 2015 at 9:57 am

#JamesBlake & Tim #Henman Turn Back The Clock & Xavier #Malisse Joins The #TieBreakTens Lineup by Ros Satar
https://t.co/PEHL7Ako46
NicksZaida says:

December 5, 2015 at 12:36 pm

RT @TennisNewsOne: JAMES BLAKE & TIGER TIM HENMAN TURN BACK THE CLOCK & XAVIER X-MAN MALISSE JOINS THE TIE BREAK TENS LIN… https://t.co/b…
rfsatar says:

December 5, 2015 at 1:43 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: #JamesBlake & Tim #Henman Turn Back The Clock & Xavier #Malisse Joins The #TieBreakTens Lineup by Ros Satar
https://t.co/…
glenysfurness says:

December 5, 2015 at 1:43 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: #JamesBlake & Tim #Henman Turn Back The Clock & Xavier #Malisse Joins The #TieBreakTens Lineup by Ros Satar
https://t.co/…