DUBAI // The Dubai leg of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) caught fire on Day 2 as UAE Royals played out a tense match into the late hours of the evening against Singapore Slammers.
But it was Andy Murray who came up on top in the highly anticipated clash with Roger Federer to give the Slammers a 27-24 win over the Royals.
Goran Ivanisevic lost the opening set 6-4 to Carlos Moya in the legends set, and the Royals fell further behind when Kristina Mladenovic went down 5-6 to Karolina Pliskova.
The home team stirred in the third set, with Daniel Nestor and Mladenovic winning the mixed doubles set 6-3 against Murray – who was replaced late on by Nick Kyrgios – and Belinda Bencic.
Despite the rain earlier in the day, the promise of Murray and Federer in action ensured a big, noisy crowd had turned up.
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Federer and Marin Cilic against Kyrgios and Marcelo Melo was a tight affair that went down to the wire, Murray’s introduction for Kyrgios late on turning the tie 6-5 in the Slammers’ favour.
With the score 21-20 in favour of the Slammers, Federer needed to win the final set for the Royals to win their first match on home court. It was not to be, and even with the majority of the crowd cheering Federer on, Murray was mostly comfortable in winning 6-4.
Indian Aces too good for Philippine Mavericks
In the earlier match, the unstoppable Indian Aces racked up yet another win on Day 2 of the Dubai leg of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), winning four sets out of five against Philippine Mavericks to clinch a rain-interrupted match 24-23.
Rohan Bopanna had replaced Aces captain Fabrice Santoro – who was suffering from a fever – in the men’s legends singles match and, though he beat James Blake 6-0 in only 13 minutes, it had been accepted that the score of 6-0 will in fact be awarded to the Mavericks. Following that, Agnieszka Radwanska maintained her good form from the first day by beating Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4.
In the mixed doubles, Bopanna was withdrawn as Sania Mirza’s partner halfway through the set. He was replaced by Ivan Dodig, and the Aces went on to claim another set by 6-4, and lead 18-8 overall.
“It’s different, but obviously it’s liked by all the players, which is why we have all the top names playing it,” Mirza said. “The players have embraced it. The whole team format is great, as tennis players we keep saying over and over that we’re used to sorting out our problems by ourselves on the court, and here you have different generations of different champions of different eras coming together from different cultures and countries. It’s pretty amazing if you think about it to have Carlos Moya on the same team as Nick Kyrgios, for example. It’s a great format and it’s spectator friendly.”
Immediately after the third set, rain forced a prolonged break. But when play resumed, the Aces picked up where hey left off by winning the mixed doubles 6-5.
Bernard Tomic made it a clean sweep when he beat Ivo Karlovic 6-5 in the men’s singles set to ensure the Aces remain comfortably in first place going into third day of play at IPTL Dubai.
“Everyone is taking it seriously. We’re trying to win,” Mirza added. “We’re the defending champions, and everyone is giving their best. Whether there are people or no people, TV or not, we are always wanting to win. The competitor in us always wants to win. It’s great that we’re in the position that we’re in right now, and it will be amazing to defend our title.”
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