Krajicek wins maiden BlackRock title at home

KRAJICEK WINS MAIDEN BLACKROCK TITLE AT HOME

Richard Krajicek finally won a title on the BlackRock Tour of Champions when he beat Goran Ivanisevic 7-6, 7-5 in front of his home fans at the AFAS Classics in Eindhoven, Holland.

The Dutchman was pushed all the way by Ivanisevic, but finally broke through in the tenth game of the second set to register the only service break of the match.

It was nice to finally win a title on the BlackRock Tour of Champions after five years on the circuit, especially here in Holland, said Krajicek. Goran beat me in the final here once before so it was really nice to win one.

Ivanisevic was stunned by the quality of his opponents backhand.

Normally when I played Richard he makes about three backhand passing shots in the whole match, but he killed me with that shot today. He was just too good, said Ivanisevic.

Earlier, Sergi Bruguera saved five match points to win a pulsating marathon with Michael Chang 6-7, 7-6, 14-12 (Champions Tie-Break) and take third place in the tournament.

Matches on the BlackRock Tour of Champions are played over the best of three sets, with a Champions Tie-break (first to 10 points with a clear advantage of two) to decide the winner.

Last week in Luxembourg, John McEnroe won his first BlackRock Tour of Champions title in three years by defeating Leconte to take the Vivium Victory Challenge.

Next, the Tour moves on to the Tennis Classics in Budapest. It will be the first time that the BlackRock Tour of Champions has visited Hungary. McEnroe and Bjorn Borg will both be in action, as will Ivanisevic.

In the final event of the year, Pete Sampras and Stefan Edberg will take on McEnroe and Ivanisevic in an eight-man field at the BlackRock Masters Tennis in London, December 2-7.

GORAN IVANISEVIC INTERVIEW – PART ONE

Goran Ivanisevic took time out from winning the AFAS Classics in Eindhoven to answer fans questions on the BlackRock Tour of Champions and BBC Sport websites.

In part one of the interview, which appeared on the official tour website:  www.blackrocktourofchampionscom , Ivanisevic told readers about his greatest career regret, the most talented opponent he ever faced and why Ivo Karlovic and Marin Cilic will both be Top Ten players.

The second part of the interview will appear on the BBC Sport website soon.

RESULTS FOR SUNDAY 5TH OCTOBER

Final

Richard Krajicek d. Goran Ivanisevc 7-6, 7-5

3rd/4th place play-off

Sergi Bruguera d. Michael Chang 6-7, 7-6, 14-12 (Champions Tie-Break – Bruguera saved five match points)

FINAL STANDINGS

GROUP A (The Miracle)

Matches won/lost (sets)

Richard Krajicek                         2-1 (5-2)

Sergi Bruguera            2-1 (4-2)

Michael Stich            2-1 (4-3)

Henri Leconte     0-3 (0-4)

GROUP B (Ndlovu)

Goran Ivanisevic 3-0 (6-1)

Michael Chang 2-1 (4-3)

Paul Haarhuis 1-2 (4-5)

Yevgeny Kafelnikov            0-3 (1-6)

BLACKROCK TOUR OF CHAMPIONS POINTS ALLOCATION

Winner   400 points

Finalist   250 points

3rd place   200 points

4th place   125 points

5/6th place   80 points

7/8th place  60 points

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS 2008 TOUR OF CHAMPIONS RANKINGS (after ten events)

POS. PLAYER PTS

1 Goran Ivanisevic            1220

2 Marcelo Rios 1130

3 Michael Stich            980

4 Henri Leconte 890

5 Sergi Bruguera 810

6        Cedric Pioline 740

7 Thomas Muster 655

8 Anders Jarryd  525

9        John McEnroe                     480

10= Marc-Kevin Goellner (WC) 455

10= Fernando Meligeni (WC) 455

12 Pat Cash  420

13=    Richard Krajicek  400

13= Patrick Rafter  400

13= Pete Sampras  400

13=   Stefan Edberg                      400

17 Mikael Pernfors  330

18 Chris Wilkinson (WC)  325

19= Jaime Oncins (WC)  200

19=    Johny Goudenbour             200

21 Bjorn Borg  185

22=   Guy Forget                           125

22= Jeremy Bates (WC) 125

22= Albert Costa 125

22=  Michael Chang 125

26=  Carl Uwe Steeb  120

26= Guillermo Vilas 120

28=  Mats Wilander                        80

28=  Joao Cunha e Silva (WC)  80

28= Magnus Larsson  80

28= Andrei Cherkasov  80

28= Mansour Bahrami                  80

28= Paul Haarhuis 80

34 Yevgeny Kafelnikov 60

34= Jaime Yzaga  60

34= Alladin Karagoz (WC)  60

34= Andrei Chesnokov  60

WC denotes Wild Card.

The BlackRock Tour of Champions Calendar 2008

Belfast, Northern Ireland – February 21-24 (Tennis Legends)

Champion: Anders Jarryd; Runner-up: Mikael Pernfors

Barcelona, Spain – April 24-27 (Champions Cup ‘08)

Champion: Marcelo Rios; Runner-up: Michael Stich

Rome, Italy – May 10-11

Champion: Thomas Muster; Runner-up: Goran Ivanisevic

Hamburg, Germany – May 14-17 (BlackRock Tennis Classic)

Champion: Michael Stich; Runner-up: Marc-Kevin Goellner

Sao Paulo, Brazil – June 19-22 (Nossa Caixa Grand Champions Brasil)

Champion: Pete Sampras; Runner-up: Marcelo Rios

Istanbul, Turkey – July 17-20

Champion: Goran Ivanisevic; Runner-up: Fernando Meligeni

Graz, Austria – July 29-August 2 (s Tennis Masters)

Champion: Patrick Rafter; Runner-up: Michael Stich

Algarve, Portugal – August 5-8 (Vale do Lobo Grand Champions CGD)

Champion: Marcelo Rios ; Runner-up : Goran Ivanisevic

Paris, France – September 18-21 (5e Trophe Jean-Luc Lagardre)

Champion: Stefan Edberg; Runner-up: Sergi Bruguera

Luxembourg, Luxembourg - September 25-28

Champion: John McEnroe; Runner-up: Henri Leconte

Eindhoven, Netherlands – October 2-5 (AFAS Tennis Classics)

Budapest, Hungary – October 9-12

Macao, China – November 20 (Special Event)

London, UK – December 2-7 (BlackRock Masters Tennis)

OTHER INFO

About BlackRock

BlackRock is one of the world’s largest publicly traded investment management firms. At June 30, 2008, BlackRock’s AUM was $1.428 trillion. The firm manages assets on behalf of institutions and individuals worldwide through a variety of equity, fixed income, cash management and alternative investment products. In addition, a growing number of institutional investors use BlackRock Solutions investment system, risk management and financial advisory services. Headquartered in New York City, as of June 30, 2008, the firm has approximately 5,700 employees in 19 countries and a major presence in key global markets, including the U.S., Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.blackrock.com.

South Africa’s international flagship airline and the continent’s most awarded carrier, South African Airways is the official airline of the BlackRock Tour of Champions. Its modern fleet features a comfortable Economy Class cabin recently reconfigured for extra legroom and a Premium Business Class cabin featuring the airline’s award-winning, lie-flat seat. Complimentary South African wines, inspired cuisine and personal on-demand entertainment for all travellers make the trip to Africa fly by. Built on a venerable 72-year history of bringing the world to Africa and taking Africa to the world, the airline’s network is unsurpassed on the continent – connecting travellers to more than 20 destinations within South Africa and more than 20 cities across Africa. As a recent member to the worldwide Star Alliance, South African Airways is now able to offer its customers 852 destinations in 152 countries and more than 15,500 flights daily.

For the Latest News, Features and Updates from the BlackRock Tour of Champions: www.blackrocktourofchampions.com

and for further information:

www.blackrockinternational.com/tourofchampions