Dubai: The Micromax Indian Aces were officially crowned champions of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) that concluded at the Hamdan Sports Complex on Saturday.


It was the matter of winning the battle, but losing the war for the Musafir.com UAE Royals after they beat the Indian Aces 29-15 in the final encounter, knowing fully well that they had surrendered the crown to the Indian franchise following their shock 21-23 loss to the DBS Singapore Slammers on Friday.

Had they won against the bottom-placed team from Singapore, the Royals would have had a chance to challenge for the overall title going into the final day of this competition. But that was not to be as Saturday’s win gave the UAE team a total of 37 points, three less than the Aces’ total of 40.

The Manila Mavericks–who had brushed aside the Singapore Slammers 30-15 in the day’s first encounter–ended in third with 33 points, while the team representing Singapore finished at the bottom of the table with 24 points.

After going through a string of early uncertainties, the league had kicked off in Manila on November 28 before moving on to Singapore, onwards to New Delhi and finally for its last stop in Dubai this week.

Shaikh Hasher Al Maktoum, Director General, Dubai Information Department and President, Tennis Emirates (TE) was joined by Abdul Rahman Falaknaz, Vice President, TE and IPTL Founder Mahesh Bhupathi in presenting the attractive trophy to the Indian Aces.

The UAE Royals were quite eager to finish off the league on a winning note given the fact that they started off the men’s doubles with world number one Novak Djokovic alongside Nenad Zimonjic.

After losing the opening women’s singles 5-6, Zimonjic and Kristina Mladenovic teamed up to beat the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza 6-2 for a narrow three-point cushion at 11-8.

Then came the master stroke from the Royals as Djokovic started alongside Zimonjic against Bopanna and Gael Monfils in the men’s doubles. The ruse paid off as Djokovic stepped aside after giving the home side a cushy 4-1 lead when Ivanisevic completed the job 6-2 and get a 17-10 lead.

Ivanisevic then powered his way past Cedric Pioline 6-5 in the shoot-out before Djokovic stepped in to show why he is the best in men’s tennis with a 6-0 drubbing of Monfils to complete the win.

Results

Musafir.com UAE Royals bt Micromax Indian Aces 29-15: Women’s Singles: Kristina Mladenovic bt Ana Ivanovic 6-5; Mixed Doubles: Nenad Zimonjic / Kristina Mladenovic bt Rohan Bopanna/Sania Mirza 6-2; Men’s Doubles: Nenad Zimonjic/Novak Djokovic (Goran Ivanisevic) bt Rohan Bopanna (Cedric Pioline)/Gael Monfils 6-2; Legends Singles: Goran Ivanisevic bt Cedric Pioline 6-5; Men’s Singles: Novak Djokovic bt Gael Monfils 6-0.

Manila Mavericks bt DBS Singapore Slammers 30-15: Legends Singles: Mark Philippoussis bt Patrick Rafter 6-5; Men’s Singles: Philipp Kohlschreiber* bt Tomas Berdych 6-2; Mixed Doubles: Daniel Nestor / Kirsten Flipkens bt Daniela Hantuchova / Nick Kyrgios 6-1; Men’s Doubles: Daniel Nestor / Philipp Kohlschreiber bt Bruno Soares / Lleyton Hewitt 6-4; Women’s Singles: Kirsten Flipkens vs Daniela Hantuchova 6-3.
(*replaced Jo-Wifried Tsonga)