Centre court, Wimbledon it wasn't.

But for two players who nowadays spend more time on the golf course than they do the tennis court, nobody should have expected as much.

Last night's exhibition to mark the tenth anniversary of the XL Capital Bermuda Open between two men virtually synonymous with the event, inaugural champion Mikael Pernfors and former Island resident Patrick Rafter, was always meant to be a bit of fun.

And that's exactly how the retired stars approached the contest.

However, the irony of a match which produced the least competitive tennis yet attracted the biggest crowd of the week can't have been lost on Open organisers.

No disrespect to Pernfors, but the vast majority poured into Coral Beach to get what might be a final glance on court of pin-up boy Rafter.

And as far as most females in the crowd were concerned, he could quite easily have left his racquet at home, it wouldn't have mattered.

The accent was placed firmly on entertainment and while Pernfors and Rafter did their best to please, the dry humour of chair umpire Roy Emerson - yes, the legend himself - contributed significantly to the show.

Added to that, an announcement afterwards by XL Capital's CEO Brian O'Hara that $10,000 would be donated to the charity set up by Rafter - Cherish the Children Foundation - and it was all very much a worthwhile exercise.

While admitting to have enjoyed the evening, Rafter, the two-time former US Open champion, insisted again afterwards he had no desire to return to serious competition.

"No, not all," he replied, when asked whether he missed the professional circuit. "Tonight is really the first time I've been on court since retiring (last year). I did a charity thing in Australia but it was just doubles with celebrities, nothing serious. I haven't done any other exhibitions.

"But it's good to be back in Bermuda. Since we've had the baby, we've spent a lot of time in Australia.

"Tonight was good fun. Mikael made it a lot of fun and the crowd were really good."

Like his Aussie opponent, Swede Pernfors admitted he rarely played in front of a crowd these days.

"I don't play much. I get invited to play five or six tournaments a year on the seniors tour and some exhibitions. I don't practice much any more but I play a lot of squash to stay in shape.

"Tonight we kind of mixed it up a little bit, played some serious points and then some fun stuff . . . stuff that we wouldn't get chance to do in a regular match.

"I haven't played that much and he wanted to slow it down a little bit too. I think he was very nice to me."