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Hong Kong to host Challenger tournament:
HONG KONG will host an ATP-sanctioned Challenger tournament in October at Victoria Park.
The US$50,000 (HK&3.87 mil) Challenger series, from 10-18 October, is open to player ranked 80 to 300 in the world.
Two wildcards for top local players will also be made available.
"Our event is about 32 players knocking on stardon's door," said Jeff Mann, who is the tounament director.
"It is no wonder the Challenger series is billed as the event to see the stars of the future and the place to see some of the most competitive tennis played anywyere."
MCENROE FACOURS RIOS FOR FRENCH OPEN CROWN
Marcelo Rios is the over whelming facourite to capture the French Open tennis tournament, accoirding to John McEnroe.
"It's his tournament to win or lose," McEnroe said in a wide-ranging conference call.
Like McEnroe, Rios is a left-hander "who takes the ball early and plays sharp angles," McEnroe said. "Other than that, there is nothing to compare between our games."
If Rios does capture the years second Grand Slam tournament and the only one of the four played on clay, he will succeed where McEnroe failed. McEnroe called his loss to Ivan Landl in the final of the 1984 French Open the most disppointing match of his career.
"I couldn't get over the hump against the truly great clay-court players, the Lendls, the Wilanders in particular," he said. "I must have had three or four losses to each of them... That's disappointing, because I really feel I could have won that tournament."
McEnroe said the world's top-ranked player, Pete Sampras, "is clearly a longshot" on the clay at Roland Garros, as are most of the American men.
"The surface they play on in Europe is different than what they play on here (New York)," McEnroe said. "There's not as many facilities available over here to prepare to play on that surface. And I don't think people realise, fans or media alike, the differences in the surfaces.
"There i only a few guys that you could really imagine goint two weeks and winning an event like the French. There's not a lot of guys you can pick."
Michael Chang, the 1989 French Open winner, has been bothered by nagging injuries in the last year and has dropped out of the top 10. Jim Courier won at the Roland Garros in 1991 and 1992, but has fallen to number 49 in the world.
Then there's Andre Agassi, who has runner-up at Paris in both 1990 and 1991. Hacing dropped to 141 in the world last year, Agassi has refocussed his priorities on tennis and reached four finals this year, winning twice.
"Andre has taken a step in the right direction," McEnroe said. "Fitness is still a question mark as far as I'm concerned.
"He's certainly lost a lot of weight, but whether that can tranlate into winning seven matches on clay, that's a totally different story. He's kind of banking on what he idd six or eight years ago when he just shows up ahd beats players.
"I don't think it's going to be as easy for his to do that," said McEnroe. "He better hope he has a pretty good draw."
McEnroe, who will be at the tournament as a television commentor, said he feels former winners like Thomas Muster and Sergi Bruguera don't believe they can still win the French Open.
"This to me is Rios' tournament to win or to lost," he said. "the stars have been aligned that he should win this if he buckles down and plays to his ability.
Tennis legends Bjorn Borg and Argentine great Guillermo Vilas will appear in this year's US$80,000 )HK$624,000) Natwest Classic Senior Championship at Hong Kong Country Club from 4 to 7 November.
Sweden's Borg, one of the world's greatest players ever, with 11 Grand Slam Titles to his name, will be taking part in the tournament for the third year.
The 41-year-old remains a strong title contender, after overcoming Critish veeteran John Lloyd in the final of the inaugural event in 1996.
Borg still holds the record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and six French Open titles.
Vilas, 45, is the greatest player Argentina has ever produced, capturing four Grand Slam titles including the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open between 1977-79
