from Westfalen-Blatt
by Hans Peter Tipp
translated into English by Mauro Cappiello

Spectators cheer the old stars Navratilova, Myskina, Edberg and Stich

Halle. Star Quartet at the Gerry Weber Stadium: yesterday almost 11,000 spectators appreciated with lots of applauses the show match at the Champions Trophy between tennis legends Martina Navratilova/Michael Stich and Anastasia Myskina/Stefan Edberg.

At the end of the tennis party Stich/Navratilova were handed the larger of the four trophies, because they had won the last point after 90 minutes of entertainment with the score of 5-7, 6-2, 10-8.

"You're happy when you win. But it is not so bad if you lose", was, according to Stich, the striking theme of an afternoon that brought the tennis stars, not only the audience, back of a couple of years in the past.

The four old tennis stars, who have collected a total of 26 Grand Slam titles and finished their active career more or less time ago seem to have come back their glorious times. Meeting Michael Stich (43) on grass, Stefan Edberg (46) immediately thought of the legendary Wimbledon semi-final, he had lost in 1993 (ann. mistake by the author: it was 1991) against the German - and he had not lost his serve once in four sets.

For Anastasia Myskina (30), meanwhile, "a dream" came true, because she was allowed to stand together on court with her ??idol Martina Navratilova (55).

The "Grande Dame" of tennis remembered, however, that the first time her picture appeared on the press was on a German newspaper. In addition, she told she had played her hardest matches against Steffi Graf while she had been pushed to her physical limits in two three-set matches against multiple German champion Helga Masthoff.

Yesterday Navratilova, who ended her unprecedented career only six tears ago, and the other stars proved that they still dominate the court. Edberg, who works today as an investment advisor, prefers a much more defensive strategy than earlier on the tennis, when, after his serve, he often rushed to the net, as in his best years, where he was usually expected from Michael Stich. Maybe the Swedes had helped, making sure that he would inaugurate a new grass court just the day before in Karlskrona, together with the Gerry Weber Open finalist in 1994, his compatriot Magnus Larsson.

Martina Navratilova showed the 25 years younger Myskina why she is the most successful grasscourt player of all time. Precise serve, low volleys: all of this is for the Czech native still no problem. Once a champion, always a champion.

To the good atmosphere in the stadium during the first set contributed the occasional musical entertainment by the "Travelling Voices". The quartet appeared unannounced in the stands and from there asked "Tell me quando, tell me when?" and it hit exactly the right tone. At the same time, the musicians of course the audience spoke from the heart that will surely not mind a reunion with these four objections had Tenniskonnern.

At the same time as the musicians, of course the audience spoke from the heart that they would surely not mind a reunion with these four tennis champions.

Euro 2012 betting tip on Sweden-Ukraine
Stefan Edberg, the 46-year-old tennis legends, expects a 1-0 for his countrymen. «I do not expect our team to score many goals. But I think they will have a good start of the tournament. If they lose, they have a problem - in a group with France and England. However, the conformation (of the group) can also be a good thing: we have nothing to lose as outsiders»

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