Algarve news and information portal - AlgarveMais

The most famous of all of the tennis players, the North American John McEnroe, is returning to the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions Millenium bcp, defending the title he won last year.
The competition from Premier Sports - which in 2006 will take place between 8th and 11th August at the Vale do Lobo Tennis Academy - will be counting on the winner in 2005.

"I have trained very hard and still have a good couple of years in me to test myself against the younger players, such as Goran Ivanisevic, Jim Courier and Richard Krajicek", said the oldest of the stars who will be participating in the Merrill Lynch ATP Tour of Champions, on the veterans circuit.

John McEnroe tried the impossible in the 6th edition of the only Portuguese tournament on the World Veterans Circuit: winning competitions where his rivals are all at least ten years younger. But if anyone can do it, he can...

In 2005, "Big Mac" won the titles of the Deichmann Champions Trophy in Frankfurt, and of the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions Millennium bcp, was a finalist in Essen and returned to 2nd place in the world ranking of the event, overtaken only by the

Croatian Goran Ivanisevic.

The ex-World Nº 1 is the current holder of the record for titles on the veterans circuit (42) and is the only double champion (2002 and 2005) of the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions Millennium bcp. In 2006, he will go for the "treble"...

"With McEnroe, you never know. Whilst he feels that physically he can play at a high level, he will continue to play. Mentally, he retains that desire to win, to complete and to challenge the younger ones", commented Pedro Frazão, director of the Algarvian competition.

The tennis player always likes to defend a title, for which reason, explains the director, "it wasn't even necessary to invite him. He made a point of saying he wanted to return. He also told me that he very much likes our tournament".

source: região sul