It was the match they’d all come to see at the 2013 World Tennis Challenge. The great champion, Martina Navratilova, and the serial slam winner 24 years her junior, Martina Hingis. And they didn’t disappoint.
It had been 39 years since Navratilova last played a singles match in Adelaide but still she looked at times as if she could beat someone half her age with ease. Martina Hingis though, was not to be intimidated by the crisp serve and volleying of Navratilova, the latter’s familiar style undimmed by the years.
Hingis was supreme with her volleys as she came to the net whenever the chance arose, her positioning and court movement as graceful and captivating as ever and from three games apiece, she strode away from the elder player to run out the easy winner 8-5.
The crowd seemed thrilled with the occasion and Navratilova too appeared to enjoy herself, a rapturous and deserved ovation from the Memorial Drive crowd seeing the players off.
Henri Leconte was at his most entertaining as he defeated Mikael Pernfors, the Swede much improved on his previous night’s performance, and even throwing in a winning backhand serve to the deceptively good Leconte, before going down 8-5.
Earlier, Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, clad again in lemon attire, was in imperious form, generating huge speed on his speed on his serve and, especially, venomous forehand, to defeat the orange shirted Serbian Viktor Troicki, 6-3, 6-4 in a high class encounter.
Also first up and in the early evening sunshine, were Alexandr Dolgopolov, his spring-in-the-box serve failing to trouble the resolute and consistent Swiss, Stan Wawrinka, who withstood the Ukrainian’s unorthodox game to win comfortably in two sets, 6/2, 7/6(4).
Mats Wilander won the final singles match of the evening, handling the big serves of local favourite Wayne Arthurs, with a mix of aggression and sound counter attacking play by 8-6, before paying homage to the World Tennis Challenge crowd which has the ‘best party crowd atmosphere anywhere,’ Mats said.
Mansour Bahrami and Nicolas Almagro defeated Henri Leconte and Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-5(7) in a most entertaining doubles conclusion to the evening.
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