UAE Royals returned to winning ways by posting a thrilling 26-21 victory, which put an end to Manila Mavericks’ unbeaten run in the inaugural International Premier Tennis League on day two of the Singapore leg here on Wednesday.
With this win, the Royals have leapfrogged the Mavericks into second position in the table.
Later in the day, Singapore Slammers handed Indian Aces its first defeat in a pulsating match that went down to the wire. After the game scores were tied at 23, Slammers stole the shoot-out as Tomas Berdych got the better of Gael Monfils.
In the first match, Royals, despite going down 6-5 in a tightly-contested first set, fought back well with Marin Cilic registering a win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Kristina Mladenovic showing her form as she closed out the final two sets and the match in convincing fashion.
UAE Royals will play Singapore Slammers on the final day of the Singapore leg on Thursday, before the event moves to New Delhi. The match started with the Legends singles, which saw Maverick’s Mark Phillippoussis triumph over Goran Ivanisevic in an exciting super shoot-out.
But US Open champion Cilic brought UAE back on track in the men’s singles round as he broke serve in a hard hitting battle to outplay Tsonga 6-4.
Tsonga then paired up with Treat Huey to produce a moment of magic for the Mavericks as the duo stole the set 6-3, defeating the star combination of Nenad Zimonjic and Marin Cilic in men’s doubles.
UAE bounced back once again with mixed doubles duo of Zimonjic and in-form Mladenovic thrashing Kirsten Flipkens and Daniel Nestor 6-1.
Mladenovic then took the momentum into the fifth and final set with her groundstroke game prevailing, wrapping up the set 6-4 against Flipkens in women’s singles to place UAE Royals in second spot in the table.
“I’ve been playing every match so far, doubles and mixed doubles, it is tough, you’ve got to stay focused, every point counts. A little lack of concentration could cost you the match and I think it’s important,” Zimonjic said.
The results:Royals bt Manila Mavericks 26-21 (Goran Ivanisevic lost to Mark Philippoussis 5-6; Marin Cilic bt Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4; Marin Cilic & Nenad Zimonjic lost to Tsonga & Treat Huey 3-6; Zimonjic & Kristina Mladenovic bt Daniel Nestor & Kirsten Flipkens 6-1; Mladenovic bt Flipkens 6-4). Singapore Slammers bt Indian Aces 34-23 (Serena Williams bt Ana Ivanovic 6-4; Bruno Soares & Serena Williams lost to Rohan Bopanna & Sania Mirza 3-6; Andre Agaaai lost to Fabrice Santoro 2-6; Tomas Berdych bt Gael Monfils 6-2; Lleyton Hewitt & Nick Kyrgios bt Bopanna & Monfils 6-5. Shoot-out: Berdych bt Monfils 1-0.
