Dubai: The Musafir.com UAE Royals and Micromax Indian Aces steered themselves towards a mouth-watering finale to the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) with opening night wins at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Thursday.
Leaders Indian Aces defeated cellar-placed DBS Singapore Slammers 28-24 to take their overall tally to 34 points, while the Musafir.com UAE Royals made a winning home debut over the Manila Mavericks to keep sole possession of second spot overall.
Tied on 27 points with the Royals at the end of the third round in New Delhi, the Manila Mavericks slipped down to third, while Singapore Slammers kept their position at the bottom of the four-team standings.
Playing before a disappointing crowd of perhaps less than 2,000 on the opening night, it was the Aces and the home side both showing real intent for the title as they prepared for a showdown to possibly decide the title when they meet on Friday.
The second match of the night was also a contrast of sorts as Musafir.com UAE Royals got off to a strong start only to wither off in the next three matches before fighting from the edge to win the deciding fifth match to tame the Mavericks.
It was former world number one Caroline Wozniacki getting the home team to a quick advantage with a quick-paced 6-2 win over Kirsten Flipkens. However, the Royals lost their next two encounters with Goran Ivanisevic falling 5-6 in the shoot-out against Australia’s Mark Philippoussis followed by world number one and four-time Dubai Duty Free Men’s Open champion Novak Djokovic losing 5-6 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the UAE franchise carried forward a narrow 16-14 lead.
The Manila Mavericks relied on the guile of Daniel Nestor and Kirsten Flipkens to ease their way past Nenad Zimonjic and Kristina Mladenovic 6-4 in the mixed doubles and tie the scores 20-20 to push the encounter in the final men’s doubles decider between Zimonjic and Marin Cilic against Nestor and Tsonga.
From then on it was one game at a time as Nestor and Tsonga of the Mavericks matching Cilic and Zimonjic of the home team. Finally, it was the Royals keeping their focus in the decisive shoot-out to win 8-6 and finish with a narrow 26-25 win.
Earlier, much of the credit for the Aces’ 28-24 win against the Slammers should go to their captain cum coach Fabrice Santoro following the solid start he gave through his 6-3 win over Patrick Rafter. Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza carried forward the momentum with a 6-5 win over Daniela Hantuchova and Bruno Soares before Gael Monfils and Bopanna tightened their grip for the Indian franchise with a 6-3 result against Lleyton Hewitt and Soares.
Even though Monfils lost 4-8 to Tomas Berdych in the men’s singles, the Indian Aces had already been assured of the four points that took them further away from chasing UAE Royals and Manila Mavericks.
RESULTS
Micromax Indian Aces bt DBS Singapore Slammers 28-24: Women’s Singles: Ana Ivanovic bt Daniela Hantuchova 6-5; Legends Singles: Fabrice Santoro bt Pat Rafter 6-3; Mixed Doubles: Rohan Bopanna/Sania Mirza bt Daniela Hantuchova/Bruno Soares 6-5; Men’s Doubles: Gael Monfils/Rohan Bopanna bt Lleyton Hewitt/Bruno Soares 6-3; Men’s Singles: Gael Monfils lost to Tomas Berdych 4-8.
Musafir.com UAE Royals vs Manila Mavericks 26-25: Women’s Singles: Caroline Wozniacki bt Kirsten Flipkens 6-2; Legends Singles: Goran Ivanisevic lost to Mark Philippoussis 5-6; Men’s Singles: Novak Djokovic lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 5-6; Mixed Doubles: Nenad Zimonjic/Kristina Mladenovic lost to Daniel Nestor/Kirsten Flipkens 4-6; Men’s Doubles: Nenad Zimonjic/Marin Cilic bt Daniel Nestor/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-5.
Friday’s Fixtures: (4 pm) Manila Mavericks vs DBS Singapore Slammers; (7.30 pm) Musafir.com UAE Royals vs Micromax Indian Aces.
