By David Law

(October 3, 2010) John McEnroe won his long awaited re-match with Ivan Lendl 6-4, 3-2, when his nemesis retired with a calf injury and went on to lift the Jean-Luc Lagardere Trophy in Paris today.

"It meant a lot to win," said McEnroe in a video interview with ATP Champions Tour. "It was exciting, the atmosphere was electric and people were pumped up. Not as pumped up as I was though. I felt like I was doing some good things, he surprised me and he was serving pretty big and hitting some big shots, but I should’ve known. I’ve played him often enough to know to expect that but when you haven’t played a guy in a long time you’’re not sure what to expect. But once I got into it it started to feel like old times."

McEnroe overcame Lendl after his opponent was forced to pull out of their clash midway through the second set because of a pulled calf muscle. McEnroe then defeated Guy Forget in two tie breakers in the final, 7-5, 7-4.

Against Lendl, McEnroe edged a close first set, and Lendl hurt himself when stretching for a return in the second set. He tried to play on, but when McEnroe broke his serve for 3-2 in the second set it was clear that Lendl was unable to move as he would have liked.

McEnroe, who had lost the last six encounters between them on the ATP circuit during their careers, celebrated wildly.

"I have no idea what happened to him (to make him retire). It doesn’t get any easier and we’re all hurting so either he’ll get used to that or it’ll be difficult for him," McEnroe said. "He was throwing everything at me and he was saying a lot of things to me. Usually the things we were saying to each other weren’t always pleasant but this was pleasant. I think we always brought out the best in each other and if we can do that to some degree now on this Tour then that’ll be awesome and I’m all for it."

The  Champions Tour will next visit Chengdu (China) October 21-24th, Sydney, Australia November 11-14th, and then London (England) for the AEGON Masters Tennis at the Royal Albert Hall, November 30 - December 5th.

While Lendl and McEnroe were battling it out, one of the most popular tennis players France has ever produced, Yannick Noah, celebrated his 50th birthday by playing doubles and singing on-stage with McEnroe at the Jean Luc Lagardere Trophy.

Noah, who won the French Open in 1983 and has arguably enjoyed even greater success as a music star since retirement, thrilled crowds with doubles partners that included Arnaud Clement and Amelie Mauresmo.

To see a photo gallery of Noah's 50th birthday celebrations, visit this ATP Champions Tour link.