John McEnroe will face Sergi Bruguera in the final of the “Grande Sfida” tomorrow in Modena, the Italian leg of the ATP Champions Tour.
Verona hosted the two semifinals on Friday evening. Bruguera, two-time Roland Garros champion in 1993 and 1994, beat Henri Leconte 6-3 7-6 (7-2) in the first semifinal. McEnroe, seven-time Grand Slam champion, beat Mats Wilander 6-2 6-4 in a clash between two seven-time Majors champions.
The first day of the “Grande Sfida”, was a mix of great tennis and entertainment for the 3000 enthusiastic fans who attended the two semifinals in an enjoyable atmosphere in Verona.
Bruguera beat Leconte again as on the ATP Tour where the Spanish player prevailed in all their four head-to-head matches in the 1990s. Leconte, who reached the French Open singles final in 1988, offered a great show entertaining the crowd.
The second semifinal between McEnroe and Wilander was a re-match of an epic Davis Cup clash in 1982 which lasted six hours and 22 minutes (the second longest Davis Cup singles match in history) where the US legend won 9-7 6-2 15-17 3-6 8-6.
In the Verona semifinal Mcenroe went up a set and a break in the second set. Wilander had two break point chances at 2-3 in the second set but McEnroe saved the first opportunity with a cross-court passing shot and the second with a service winner. Mcenroe entertained the crowd with a spectacular down-the-line backhand passing shot.
McEnroe will bid to win the Italian leg of the ATP Champions Tour after losing in the semifinal in last year’s edition in Milan.
“It doesn’t matter how old John is. He still plays so well. It is a pleasure to play against him and at the same time a pain in the butt. I can’t play any better than I did tonight. I feel like I don’t have a chance to win a set when he plays like that”, said Wilander, who won the first of his three Roland Garros titles in 1982 at the age of 18.
On Friday the four big stars had the chance to visit the Ferrari museum (where the pre-event press conference took place) and Enzo Ferrari’s workshop ahead of the Grande Sfida.
