Spanish tennis player Albert Costa, standing in for Jim Courier in the first Madrid Senior Masters, won the championship on Sunday by beating American legend and former world number one John McEnroe.

McEnroe had been rated favorite ahead of the match, but the encounter was very even and had to be decided by a 10-point tiebreaker.

Costa started the first set at a disadvantage, and McEnroe showed off his volleying dexterity and the power of his serves. But despite all this, McEnroe, the famous Golden Fox, was unable to win the veterans' championship.

In the final tiebreak the former "bad boy" joked with judges, while Costa took advantage of every opportunity. The final ended 9-1 in his favor.

In Sunday's other game, Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic, defeated another former world number one Sweden's Mats Wilander, with straight sets of 6-4 and 6-4 to take the tournament's number three spot. The veterans joked during the encounter, in which Ivanisevic used his better physical shape to dominate.

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2007)