Three former tennis world no.1’s will compete in a prestigious seniors event in May, as Colombia prepares to welcome Carlos Moya, Marcelo Rios and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, EFE reported Monday.
Carlos Moya, 34, the winner of the 1998 French Open, was at the presentation ceremony for the “Seguros Bolivar Champions Tour 2011,” which is due to take place between May 19 and 22 at the Palacio de los Deportes in Bogota.
“I am very happy to play here in Colombia,” said the Spaniard, who retired in November 2010, adding that it will also be “my first senior tournament and that excites me,” El Espectador records him saying.
Moya said that he is particularly eager to beat the other challengers who “have beaten me many times throughout my professional career.”
Russian 37-year-old Kafelnikov, meanwhile, won two Grand Slam events before embarking on an intriguing post-career that included winning money three times during the 2005 World Series of Poker and competing in the European PGA and Russian Open golf tournaments – albeit finishing last and second-last.
Chilean Marcelo Rios, the first Latin American to reach the pinnacle of men’s tennis, holds the unfortunate title of being the only world no.1 never to have won a Grand Slam event, although his career was sadly cut short through injury at the age of just 27.
The retired world no.1 stars will be joined by other notable former professional players such as two-time Grand Slam runner-up Mark Phillipoussis and 1999 Australian Open finalist Thomas Enqvist.
Entrance to the tournament is free to the public and will also feature an exhibition by Iranian Mansour Bahrami, the undoubted entertainer of tennis history.