LONDON, December 9, 2018

Tommy Haas and defending champion Juan Carlos Ferrero will compete in Sunday’s singles final of the Champions Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall.

Haas, who recently won the Legends Cup in Mallorca, lost to home favourite Greg Rusedski 6-3, 1-6, 10-8 but advanced to the title match. The former World No. 2 from Germany emerged victorious from his previous match against Belgium’s Xavier Malisse.

“Overall it was all good fun, played some good tennis out there in front of a great crowd,” Haas said. “I’m very happy I was able to move around… happy to be out there in such an awesome venue.”

Ferrero remained unbeaten this week. The 38-year-old Spaniard defeated Mark Philippoussis of Australia in his first encounter and fought past big-serving Croat Goran Ivanisevic 4-6, 6-1, 11-9 on Saturday evening.

“I definitely think we both enjoyed this match, playing good serves and entertaining rallies and hopefully the crowd enjoyed that,” Ferrero said afterwards. “I felt a little bit better than yesterday and I hope to increase my fitness level again for tomorrow’s final.”

McEnroe’s final appearance at Royal Albert Hall

Meanwhile, John McEnroe announced that he competed at Royal Albert Hall for the last time. “I came here at 18 and played Wimbledon for the first time. That was a dream come true,” McEnroe was quoted on ATPChampions.com. The 59-year-old US-American hoisted a trophy here 21 years.

“It’s a different feeling than the main Tour. We all go out and play 100 per cent, but there’s a different feeling and a camaraderie amongst these guys,” McEnroe said. “I must say, for all these guys to come out, it means a lot. It’s been a lot of fun all these years… I remember coming here [for the first time] and I thought this is one of the most amazing places.”