Stars serve up a tennis treat

IT took the sheer genius of John McEnroe and the Gallic flair of Henri Leconte to provide the excitement to lift a quiet centre court crowd to its feet yesterday, during the opening day of the Marlboro Championship at Victoria Park.

Despite the attraction of former world No 1, Stefan Edberg, the centre court stands were less than half full for the tournament's opening game.

However, as the afternoon wore on, the territory's tennis faithful began to arrive in anticipation of seeing the tournament's main drawcard, McEnroe, in action.

With the opening match, featuring Edberg and Australian Todd Woodbridge, developing into a one-sided affair in the Swede's favour, many fans turned to the beer garden and sponsors' stalls outside.

And it was among the colourful umbrellas and picnic atmosphere of the beer garden that the irony of sporting events being sponsored by cigarette companies became evident, with one vendor offering ''fitness cake'' and another handing out free cigarettes.

In addition to the dried fruit cake, fans were provided with a mouth-watering array of delicacies ranging from bagels topped with fresh salmon to grilled pork sausages.

Kilograms of strawberries were also available, but despite their traditional association with tennis, by 7 pm last night not one had been sold.