My reports on the Optima Open are finally online! This match took place on Saturday, August 16th (read my complete Optima Open report here).

Last match of the day: a mixed doubles exhibition with Kim Clijsters, Monica Seles, John McEnroe and Mansour Bahrami! It’s always a pleasure to see these great champions play and have fun on court.

Players entering the court:

Warm-up:

4-time Grand Slam champion Kim Clijsters, visibly happy to be on court:

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My reports on the Optima Open are finally online! This match took place on Saturday, August 16th (read my complete Optima Open report here).

First match of the day between two Wimbledon champions: Pat Cash (1987) and Goran Ivanisevic (2001).
An entertaining match with lots of interactions between the players and the public. Cash and Ivanisevic even tried to “corrupt” the line judges by offering them money. It was a lot of fun with some good tennis too.

Goran’s impressive serve:

Pete Sampras was the first player to pass 1,000 ace mark in a single season, but Goran still holds the record for most aces in a year.

Grandpa Cash, still looking strong at 49:

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I spent a day in Knokke-Heist, Belgium, last month to attend the third day of the Optima Open, the Belgian stop of the ATP Champions Tour. It was the second seniors event I attended this year after the World Tennis Day showdown in London last March (find all the recap here).

Situated in the heart of the country’s Flemish-speaking Flanders region, Knokke-Heist is considered to be one of Belgium’s most exclusive and affluent seaside resorts. Knokke-Heist is the perfect base for exploring the enchanting Zwin region, on the Belgian-Dutch border.

The tournament has the typical senior event format: 2 groups of 3 players, with the winners of each group facing each other in final. This year the Optima Open also featured a star-studded mixed doubles exhibition event: with three former world number one, winnners of 20 singles Grand Slam titles in total, and tennis’ greatest entertainer, Mansour Bahrami completing the foursome.

All results on the official website (Malisse beat Santoro in the final)

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They played at Roland Garros a few years ago, they are now back in Paris as coaches, TV commentators or are taking part to the Legends trophy, and with this new trend of great champions turning to coaching, there’s plenty of past champions to see around the grounds at Roland Garros.

6-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker, coach of Novak Djokovic:

Goran Ivanisevic, quarterfinalist in 1990, the year he beat then world No 1 Stefan Edberg in the first round. He now coaches Marin Cilic:

Sergi Bruguera, winner in 1993 and 1994, coach of Richard Gasquet:

Magnus Norman, finalist in 2000, coach of Stanislas Wawrinka:

Michael Chang, winner in 1989 and coach of Kei Nishikori:

Martina Hingis, finalist in 1997 and 1999. She coaches Sabine Lisicki:

Sébastien Grosjean, semi-finalist at Roland Garros in 2001, coach of Richard Gasquet:

Fabrice Santoro, doubles finalist in 2004, interviews players after their matches:

Kim Clijsters and Martina Navratilova, playing doubles together:

Iva Majoli, Roland Garros champion in 1997:

Anastasia Myskina, first ever female Russian player to win a Grand Slam title (Roland Garros in 2004):

Former world number one Lindsay Davenport and Mary Joe Fernandez, 1993 French Open runner-up:

1998 Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna:

Natasha Zvereva, runner-up in that famous 1988 final against Steffi Graf:

Nathalie Tauziat and Conchita Martinez practising on court 15, they play the Legends Trophy together:

Martinez is now captain of the Spanish Fed Cup team. Tauziat is the former coach of Eugénie Bouchard (below a picture of them two at Roland Garros last year), she now coaches Aleksandra Wozniak:

Gaston Gaudio, surprise winner in 2004:

Thomas Enqvist and Carlos Moya, Roland Garros champion in 1998:

Albert Costa, winner in 2002. He is currently coaching Feliciano Lopez.

Cédric Pioline interviewing Maria Sharapova after her victory over Eugénie Bouchard:

Stanislas Wawrinka beat an injured Rafael Nadal to win his maiden Grand Slam title. Federer, Ferrer, Mauresmo… here are a few players’ reactions on Twitter:

But first Wawrinka’s coach, Magnus Norman:

Amélie Mauresmo who knows a thing or two about players injured in a Grand Slam final:

Feliciano Lopez and David Ferrer congratulate Wawrinka and wish a good recovery to their pal Nadal:

and saving the best for last, Kim Clijsters, a few days ago: