Dubai: The Micromax Indian Aces were prematurely crowned champions of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) after cellar-placed DBS Singapore Slammers upset hosts Musafir.com UAE Royals on the penultimate day of the competition on Friday.
Played before a crowd of nearly 4,000, the hero for the Slammers was Tomas Berdych as he upset world number one and the UAE’s top card Novak Djokovic 6-5 in the deciding five-minute shoot-out to squeeze through with a narrow 23-21 win over the hosts.
That upset the entire overall points calculation as the Aces continued at the top with an unassailable 38 points followed by the UAE Royals in second with 33 points, while the Manila Mavericks and DBS Singapore Slammers followed in third and fourth with 31 and 23 points respectively.
The UAE Royals will now face the Aces, and even if the hosts win on the final day this evening, they can earn a maximum of four points and still fall short of the Indian total.
The Royals’ chase for a finale never took off after former world number one Caroline Wozniacki trailed Daniela Hantuchova 0-4. Wozniacki was substituted by Kristina Mladenovic who too failed to arrest the smooth-flowing game of Hantuchova, who went on to win 6-1.
But it was former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic who came to the Royals’ rescue with a dominating 6-1 win over Patrick Rafter to draw the two teams level 7-7, and then former doubles world number one Nenad Zimonjic teamed up with Mladenovic to get past the Slammers’ duo of Bruno Soares and Hantuchova 6-4 and put the Royals back on track to help the home side lead 13-11.
However, the Slammers were not done as yet as youngster Nick Kyrgios teamed up with the experienced Lleyton Hewitt to set aside Nenad Zimonjic and Marin Cilic 6-3 and regain the lead 17-16 for a second time and putting the entire onus on the fifth and final singles between Djokovic and Berdych.
Things didn’t look too promising as Djokovic started off with a double fault but somehow both managed to stay on serve till the world number one broke to lead 5-3. But Berdych came right back and forced the deciding shoot-out that he went on to win 7-6 and hand the hosts a stunning win.
In the day’s first match, the Indian Aces looked very convincing in their 28-23 win over the Manila Mavericks. Play was delayed for 15 minutes, and after things got under way it was some vintage tennis from Fabrice Santoro that saw the Frenchman get past Mark Philippoussis 6-3.
The Aces built on that strong start with Gael Monfils dominating fellow Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga before winning 6-2 while the Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza secured a tight 6-4 win over Daniel Nestor and Kirsten Flipkens. Former world number one Ana Ivanovic eased her way past Flipkens 6-3 before Tsonga and Nestor teamed up for a 11-4 win over the Aces’ Bopanna and Monfils.
