ATP CHAMPIONS TENNIS TOUR IN ITALY – THE LEGENDS / ‘SUPER-COACHES’ , INCLUDING MICHAEL CHANG , IVAN LENDL , & GORAN IVANISEVIC

Written by: Staff on 16th October 2014

ATP CHAMPIONS TENNIS TOUR IN ITALY - THE LEGENDS / 'SUPER-COACHES' , INCLUDING MICHAEL CHANG , IVAN LENDL , & GORAN IVANISEVIC

epa04388421 Coach Michael Chang appluads after Kei Nishikori of Japan upset Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their semifinals round match on the thirteenth day of the 2014 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 06 September 2014. The US Open runs through 08 September, a 15-day schedule. EPA/JUSTIN LANE |

LA GRANDE SFIDA

ATP CHAMPIONS TOUR

17-18 OCTOBER, 2014

MILAN & GENOA, ITALY

For interviews, reports and the latest videos from the ATP Champions Tour, please go to: http://www.atpchampionstour.com

For latest scores, news and gossip, follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/championstennis or visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-ATP-Champions-Tour/111815998829329?v=wall

Legends arrive in Italy and talk ‘Supercoaches’; 25 years on, Chang and Lendl still don’t discuss ‘that’ match

Four legends holding a total of 17 Grand Slam singles titles between them have arrived in Italy for the Grande Sfida, a new ATP Champions Tour event. John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Goran Ivanisevic and Michael Chang were welcomed by 200 members of the media on Thursday afternoon ahead of the two-day event which kicks off in Genoa on Friday and concludes in Milan on Saturday.

Friday’s order of play will feature the two semi finals, with McEnroe and Ivanisevic first to take to the court at the 105 Stadium Genoa. McEnroe sees a lot of the Croatian in himself.

‘I always felt like Goran was the player that most followed in my footsteps,’ said McEnroe. ‘Not necessarily the way he played but he has a bit of crazy in him on the court, just like me.’

Lendl and Chang will follow, re-living their historic 1989 French Open clash. Back then, a 17-year-old Chang defeated Lendl before going on to win the title. A quarter of a century later, they still haven’t discussed the match.

Former world number one Ivan Lendl of the Czech Republic returns the ball to former world number one tennis player of Sweden Mats Wilander 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

ROME, ITALY: American player Michael Chang returns a backhand to his compatriot Pete Sampras during their third round match at the Italian Open in Rome, 14 May. Chang defeated Sampras in two sets 6-2 and 7-6 (8-6).
EPA PHOTO/ANSA/CLAUDIO ONORATI

‘Ivan and I actually have quite a few opportunities to talk, as we’ve played a lot of golf together,’ said Chang. ‘We’ve talked about life, about tennis and a little bit about coaching. That being said we’ve never talked about the French Open and I don’t plan on asking him, funnily enough!’

The four-man field in Italy contains three successful ‘Supercoaches’, with Ivanisevic having coached fellow Croatian Marin Cilic to US Open glory, Chang guiding his final opponent Kei Nishikori and Lendl having successfully coached Andy Murray to two Grand Slam titles during their time together. Lendl, recently linked with Thomas Berdych, was asked by the Italian media whether another coaching role was a possibility in the future.

‘I don’t think so any time soon,’ he said. ‘You never know though. I always feel the situation has to be right and the time has to be right. I definitely enjoyed it enough to consider it again.’

McEnroe is the odd one out, but he didn’t rule out coaching a player himself in the future.

‘All three of these guys have done a great job with the people they’ve worked with,’ he said. ‘So that leaves just me. The answer is, I don’t know. It’s certainly not impossible. Nobody seems to be asking me though!’

La Grande Sfida will feature semifinals of McEnroe vs. Ivanisevic and Chang vs. Lendl on Friday in Genoa, with the winners facing off in Milan on Saturday, and the losers contesting the 3/4th place play-off.

For more information, please go to www.atpchampionstour.com

SCHEDULE OF PLAY

Friday 17th October

Genoa

9pm – John McEnroe vs Goran Ivanisevic

Followed by – Michael Chang vs Ivan Lendl

Saturday 18th October

Milan

4pm – 3/4 Play-off – loser of McEnroe/Ivanisevic vs. loser of Chang/Lendl

Followed by – Final – winner of McEnroe/Ivanisevic vs. winner of Chang/Lendl

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 – 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: Atp, Goran Ivanisevic, Ivan Lendl, John Mcenroe, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Michael Chang, Tennis, Tennis News

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

October 16, 2014 at 8:05 pm

#ATP CHAMPIONS #TENNIS TOUR IN ITALY- THE LEGENDS/ SUPER-COACHES, INCLUDING MICHAEL CHANG IVAN LENDL & @OfficialGoran http://t.co/cmAHcVEiS5