AEGON Masters Tennis 2011 live on ITV4

November 15, 2011   ·   2 Comments

The AEGON Masters Tennis tournament, the traditional season finale to the ATP Champions Tour will take place at the Royal Albert Hall from November 30 – December 4 with ITV4 screening live coverage from 7.30pm on Friday 2 December.

The tournament brings together some of the true tennis greats to compete once again and this year is no exception with John McEnroe and Ivan Lendl set to rekindle old rivalry.

British favourites Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski will also clash for the first time in London and the first time on the ATP Champions Tour.  The British duo have been drawn into a round-robin group with recent Chengdu finalist Younes El Aynaoui in a six-man ATP Champions Tour field which also includes Goran Ivanisevic, Mark Philippoussis and Thomas Enqvist. Pat Rafter has been forced to withdraw from the event after undergoing shoulder surgery.

Henman and Rusedski will face each other in the evening session on Saturday 3rd December at 7.30pm. They enjoyed a fascinating rivalry throughout their careers, and this will be their first meeting since the 2006 US Open, which Henman won.

Henman led their career head-to-head 8-2, including a four-set win at the Australian Open in 2002, but Rusedski scored a notable straight sets triumph at the ATP World Tour Finals in 1998. Henman reached four Wimbledon semifinals, and three finals at The Queen’s Club, whilst Rusedski reached the 1997 US Open final. Their only previous UK meetings took place at the National Championships in Telford in 1995 and 1996, Henman won both of them in three sets.

“Tim and I shared a great rivalry throughout our careers and it will be really special to play each other in Britain for the first time in such a long time,” said Rusedski. “The Royal Albert Hall is an incredible place in which to play, and I am looking forward to it a lot.”

Henman was equally enthusiastic about the event, and the draw. “It helped both Greg and I in our careers to have each other there and it’s a shame that we didn’t have a chance to play each other more in Britain,” he said. “We never played each other at Queen’s or Wimbledon, so it’s great to be able to do so at the Royal Albert Hall. Hopefully the crowds will come out in numbers and will enjoy it as much as we will.”

Other favourites taking part in the competition include Pat Cash and Henri Leconte, and an all-star doubles line-up will also feature.

ITV4 coverage is presented by Simon Reed live from the Albert Hall between Fri 2 – Sun 4 December.

EDIT: Fabrice Santoro replaces Greg Rusedski & Richard Krajecik replaces Ivan Lendl who withdrew following injury.

ITV4 Aegon Masters 2011 Schedule

Saturday 3 December – 1pm

Goran Ivanisevic v Mark Philippoussis
Henri Leconte v John McEnroe

Saturday 3 December – 7.30pm

Tim Henman v Fabrice Santoro

Sunday 4 December – 12noon

Legends Singles Final

Sunday 4 December – 4.30pm

ATP Champions Tour Singles Final

Tags: Aegon Masters, Greg Rusedski, ITV4, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Royal Albert Hall, Simon Reed, Tim Henman