International Premier Tennis League: Royal win for Indian Aces

The UAE Royals’ Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal of the Indian Aces share a light moment ahead of their IPTL-2 clash in New Delhi on Saturday. — Biplab Banerjee

It was a coldest day of the season but tennis fans came out in numbers to witness the big showdown, Rafael Nadal versus Roger Federer, on the last day of the India leg of the International Premier Tennis League at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

The atmosphere was electric with a star-studded line-up on court, foot-tapping music and colourful lights all around the venue, the perfect tone for the weekend.

“I played last year here and the atmosphere was electric. The match against Novak was really interesting and that is why I decided to return,” Federer said after landing here.

Nadal, who took a day off from office on Friday, was back at work as the Indian Aces registered third win in as many days, beating the UAE Royals 30-19, Federer’s team this year.

Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna opened for the home team with 6-4 win over Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor before world no. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska thrashed Mladenovic 6-1 in the women’s singles.

The men’s legends set was a battle of equals as Aces coach Fabrice Santoro and Goran Ivanisevic fought each point. The match went to the shoot-out at 5-5 before Santoro emerged winner 6-5 (7-4).

“Goran deseved to win but I was lucky. It was an unbelievable set,” Santoro said.

The wait finally ended when Nadal and Federer crossed swords in the men’s doubles. The Spaniard and Bopanna got the better of Federer and Marin Cilic 6-4 to make sure the Aces would go with an all-win record from the fourth leg.

In the inconsequential singles, Nadal swept past Federer 6-5.

Singapore add to Japan’s woes The day’s early honours went to second-placed Singapore Slammers as they edged past Japan Warriors 24-22 to extend their unbeaten run. Warriors have just the one win in the event so far.

Singapore’s Carlos Moya, who had an easy outing on Friday, could not repeat his performance on the day and came a cropper against Thomas Enqvist in the men’s legends singles. The former world no.1 lost 2-6.

The Slammers came back strongly, bagging next two matches with ease. In mixed doubles, Dustin Brown and Karolina Plislova beat Leander Paes and Kirsten Flipkens 6-4. The match was poised at 3-3 before Japan went ahead 4-3. The next two games saw a run of unforced errors from Japan and Singapore exploited the situation to pocket the set.

Belinda Bencic was in her elements on the day as she took just 19 minutes to outclass Flipkens 6-1 in the women’s singles set.