German Michael Stich regained his winning touch with a 6-4 7-6 (4) win over Australian Pat Cash in Saturday’s opening singles rubber at the Grand Champions 2005 tournament at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Stich went down to Croatia’s Goran Ivanisevic in his opening gambit on Friday night. Cash fared better on Friday with a win over Sweden’s Mats Wilander.
An early first-set break of serve set up Stich for an eventual 6-4 win.
The second set went with serve and in the resultant tie-break, Stich clinched the match, but not before he had to contend with some blistering ground strokes from Cash, who seemed to grow in stature as the contest wore on.
Strangely, the two players have never crossed paths during the time that they have campaigned on the world tour, but they have played each other on the senior tour.
The right-handers each boast one Grand Slam title during their pro careers. Cash won the Wimbledon crown in 1987 and Stich triumphed at the same venue in 1991. — Sapa