Spain's Rafael Nadal of the Indian Aces celebrates after getting a point against Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych of the UAE Royals during their men's singles match in the International Premier Tennis League. (Photo: AP)
Rafael Nadal made a rapturous IPTL debut as defending champions Indian Aces hammered UAE Royals 30-18 for their third straight win in Season Two of the tournament in Manila on Monday.
The second day of IPTL’s Manila leg was all about Nadal, who battled past Tomas Berdych 6-5 via tie-break in the fifth and final set.
It took the audiences many minutes to settle down after Nadal made his appearance on court. The Spaniard was a supportive team mate on the bench, cheering and applauding every point won. There was a deafening uproar when he took the court for the men’s doubles with Ivan Dodig, before taking on Berdych.
The tie began with the mixed doubles. The chemistry of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna was too much to deal with for Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic, the Aces winning the set 6-4.
The women’s singles saw Sam Stosur face-off with Ana Ivanovic, and even a substitution with Mladenovic did not help the Royals, with Aces winning it convincingly at 6-3.
The men’s legends singles witnessed some fine tennis with Fabrice Santoro chipping and slicing the ball with his magical backhand.
In an evenly contested game, the Frenchman won it 6-3 over Goran Ivanisevic. In the second match of the day, home team Philippine Mavericks defeated Japan Warriors 25-21.
