Maybe it was the early-week start. Or perhaps everyone was waiting for Roger Federer to turn up.
Whatever the reasons, the opening day of the Dubai leg of International Premier Tennis Leagueproved to be a slow burner, with Indian Aces beating the Japan Warriors 25-18 and, disappointingly, the UAE Royals going down 26-24 to the Philippine Mavericks.
When the IPTL was set up last year, it was with a view of bringing top class tennis to an Asian market that generally was lacking in ATP tournaments during the year.
And while the continental audiences from India to Japan seem to have embraced the competition, it has yet to truly catch fire going by the early impressions from yesterday.
Indeed the few hundred that turned for the early match at Dubai Duty Free Tennis stadium were there to cheer on the champions Indian Aces, and in particular Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza, against the Japan Warriors.
The duo lost to 6-4 to Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Kirsten Flipkens. It barely mattered.
It was a walk in the park after that for Indian Aces, who won 25-18 despite a 6-3 loss of marquee player Bernard Tomic to Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Agnieszka Radwanska barely broke sweat in beating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-1; Fabrice Santoro went better in the legends set by beating Thomas Enqvist 6-0; and Bopanna and Ivan Dodig overcame Herbert and Leander Paes 6-5.
The star turn was from the Indian Aces captain Santoro. “I’m just doing the same things I did in my career. I try to play tennis with a smile and it works,” he said. “It’s fun to be the captain and to be on the court with my teammates. As you can see probably we are very competitive but we have a lot of fun.
“This format is like a sprint, you can compare it to a hundred metres in tack and field, when the five sets are more like a marathon. Of course when you are 43 years old it’s better to play the short format.”
Read more: Roger Federer feels 'strange kind of pressure' ahead of IPTL action in Dubai
As temperature dropped, the crowd increased slightly under the floodlights for the later game. Goran Ivanisevic lost 6-5 to James Blake; Kristina Mladenovic beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2; and Marin Cilic and Mladenovic lost Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Treat Huey to leave the Royals trailing 2-1.
It was time for Federer to save the day. But there would be no magic bounce for the Royals, with the Swiss world No3 and Cilic losing to Roger-Vasselin and Treat Huey 6-4 to leave the match balanced at 20-20.
Despite a noisy and exciting final set where the Dubai crowd got behind their hero, Federer lost 6-4 to Ivo Karlovic, and the UAE Royals went down 26-24 to the Mavericks.
“It’s great fun with the team. I’ve played four matches now and lost all four so far, it’s not what we’ve been hoping for, but it’s how it goes,” said Federer.
“It was a tough match today, we got of to a good start and it looked good for a while, then the doubles they ran away with it and the same in the singles with Karlovic. He’s a tough guy to play against especially in this format where things can turn around very quickly.”
Today he will face world No2 Andy Murray, who in 2008 beat Federer in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
“I think more of the finals or the semis when I beat him rather than a first round loss which you erase from your memory,” he said. “Against Andy, I’ve had great matches. I think we match up well so I hope tomorrow is pretty nice. I’m sure there will be some serve and volley, some slices some coming in, the court plays slower than at the Dubai tournament. We’ll probably play more rallies, I’m not sure how much he’s been playing as of late and how much practice he’s had since the Davis Cup final, but I feel like I’m going to get only better from here on.”
Expect the excitement level, and the size of the crowd, to rise.
Legends Singles: Goran Ivanisevic 5-6 James Blake
Women’s Singles: Kristina Mladenovic 6-2 Ajla Tomljanovic
Mixed Doubles: Marin Cilic/Kristina Mladenovic 5-6 Édouard Roger-Vasselin/Treat Huey
Men’s Doubles: Roger Federer/Marin Cilic 4-6 Édouard Roger-Vasselin/Treat Huey
Men’s Singles: Roger Federer 4-6 Ivo Karlovic
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