IN A dramatic final, Sergi Bruguera beat Brazilian Fernando Meligeni in straight sets to win the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions tennis tournament last night (Friday).
Bruguera effortlessly won 6-1, 6-4 but the match was a definite crowd pleaser, particularly when half way through the match, Meligeni returned a high ball and unable to stop running in time, leaped over the net on to Bruguera’s side and hit his own shot back over the net.
This prompted Bruguera to join in and both men jumped into Meligeni’s half and took turns hitting the ball over the net and jumping over the net together to return the ball to the other half again.
This was one of the highlights of the evening and they were cheered and applauded when they stopped and returned to playing the match.
Afterwards, speaking about his opponent, Meligeni said: “He’s good! Wow, that was a good match”.
Meligeni, though the underdog, was a crowd favourite and was vehemently encouraged throughout the match.
Cèdric Pioline finished third in the tournament after his victory against Thomas Muster. Pioline won 6-4, 2-6, 10-7. Both players put all their effort into the match and Muster said: “We could not have tried harder. It was great.”
Mansour Brahrami and Andrés Gomez took on Anders Jarryd and Chris Wilkinson in an exhibition doubles match and won 6-4.
Bahrami’s influence evidently rubbed off on the others as even they began playing trick shots and teasing each other with ball tricks.
The tournament this year was a great success and the final was followed by party in the outdoor VIP bar, which was attended by players and guests.
