Pat Rafter

Pat edges Edberg in classic final

Published: Sunday, 6 December 2009, 6:47PM

Pat Rafter edged a titanic tussle with Stefan Edberg to claim the AEGON Masters Tennis title, which would have had any serve-and-volley purists purring with delight live on ITV4 or at the Royal Albert Hall.

The Australian came back from a set down to win 6-7(5), 6-4, 11-9 (Champions Tie-Break) against the Swedish veteran, who had strolled through the competition on his way to the final.

Both players were primed from the outset with the older Edberg holding his nerve to take the opening tie-break 7-5, only for 36-year-old Rafter to dig in and break his 43-year-old opponent to claim the second set 6-4.

The graceful duo put on a delightful exhibition of delicate shots, most current ATP Tour players would be hard pressed to pull off, while stepping up a gear to unleash some ferocious winners of their own.

It was one such backhand from former US Open champion Rafter that saw him take a 10-9 lead in the final stages before he served out to finally conquer the game Edberg, who had previously been unbeaten against him.

Rafter enthused: "This tournament has been unreal. It's a great venue and I've been really excited to play here. At the same time it's been great to catch up with my old mates again and if they invite me back here next year, I'll be back."

The ATP Champions Tour has taken on a new life with the likes of Rafter and Rusedski coming into play, the next tournaments coming up in 2010 at Delray Beach in Florida (February 20-23) and Zurich (March 9-13).

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