Dubai: The Singapore Slammers handed the high-flying Micromax Indian Aces only their second defeat of the campaign with a 27-16 result on the final day of the Dubai leg of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Wednesday.
The five teams head to Singapore next for the fifth and final leg of the second edition of the IPTL, with the Indian Aces still very much in charge following eight wins from ten encounters with a winning percentage of exactly 57.
The Singapore Slammers, on the other hand, won their sixth encounter from nine played so far – a shade better than the Manila Mavericks who have five wins from nine prior to their last two encounters remaining against the Legendari Japan Warriors and UAE Royals in Singapore.
Led by Fabrice Santoro – who was out from the starting line-up due to an illness - the Indian Aces have been the team to beat this season.
They began strongly with two wins at the opening leg in Japan followed by an even 1-1 record in Manila where they went down to the hosts 24-25.
However, from then on the Aces have been supreme as they picked up three clean wins in New Delhi. The Aces need to play just one more match – ironically against the Singapore Slammers – when they move to Singapore, on Friday. The best two teams will meet in the season finale scheduled to be held on December 20.
The tone for last night’s match was set even before the first serve as Santoro’s illness and absence meant Carlos Moya was awarded a 6-0 win. From then on, it was always an uphill task for the defending champions representing India. Agnieszka Radwanska did well to cut down on the lead with a 6-3 win over Belinda Bencic, only to see Karolina Pliskova and Dustin Brown notch a close 6-5 win over Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig, before Andy Murray combined with Marcello Melo to beat Rohann Bopanna and Dodig 6-4 and take them safely away to 21-15.
Murray then rattled off a smooth 6-1 win over Bernard Tomic to complete a strong showing of the Slammers before their home leg.
“The Aces are the ones that are uncatchable at the moment, and with just one match remaining [against the Aces] the idea now is to consolidate our position in the second spot [ahead of third-placed Mavericks],” admitted Dustin Brown after the match.
However, missing from the Slammers line-up will be Murray as the Scottish star is scheduled to continue his pre-season training in Dubai until December 20. “Together we have one goal and that is to continue winning. We have one more match against the Aces and I hope we can repeat this same performance in Singapore,” Brown added.
Result
Singapore Slammers bt Indian Aces 27-16: Carlos Moya x Fabrice Santoro 6-0; Belinda Bincic x Radwanska 3-6; Pliskova/Brown x Mirza/Dodig 6-5; Melo/Murray x Dodig/Bopanna 6-4; Andy Murray x Bernard Tomic 6-1.
