Aces, Slammers to lock horns in final
The Slammers made light work of Japan Warriors in a match they dominated to seal it at 30-20.
Hyderabad: The Singapore Slammers sliced Samurai to size to set up International Premier Tennis League’s title clash with the favoured Indian Aces on Sunday evening.
In the last round of matches, the Slammers made light work of Japan Warriors in a match they dominated to seal it at 30-20. A little later, the Aces were beaten 24-20 by the UAE Royals with the teams sharing the men’s singles and doubles.
The Royals began well via Thomas Johansson who mauled Mark Philippoussis 6-2 in the legends singles but an erratic Ana Ivanovic went down to Kirsten Flipkens 3-6. However, the Serbian made amends in the mixed doubles to team up with Canadian Daniel Nestor to lay local favourites Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna low with a 6-3 verdict.
Earlier, it was smooth sailing for the Slammers who swept all the matches. Carlos Moya got them off to a rocking start with a 6-4 win over Marat Safin in the legends singles. Kiki Bertens then won the women’s singles as she handled both Jelena Jankovic and later her substitute Kurumi Nara coasting to a 6-3 win in 27 minutes. Jankovic and Jean-Julian Rojer then tried to pull back things and dragged themselves up to 5-5 in the mixed doubles but found an agile Marcelo Melo too quick at the net to their comfort in the ensuing tie-breaker. The Brazilian bombarded the rival court with timely interventions even as Bertens used the lobs to good effect as the pair scored points at will to take the shootout 7-1.
Chennai’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran teamed up with Rojer to face Nick Kyrgios and Melo in the men’s doubles but the Slammers won 6-3 to go 24-15 up. Prajnesh then battled with Marcos Bhagdatis to take the match into a tie-breaker which he lost 4-7 to draw the curtains on his team’s campaign.