Barely two months after the wildly successful WTA championships, tennis fever hits our sunny island again with the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) being held here from 2 to 4 December 2014. Designed to cater to the growing demand of world class tennis in Asia and Middle East, IPTL puts forth an exciting and revolutionary format to make tennis more accessible to the masses. Tennis stars of the past and present are grouped into four teams in this new format, and play their part in this team event to secure the eventual prize money of 1 million dollars.
The first tie is between the current leader, Indian Aces vs. the UAE Royals. Current world number 5 Ana Ivanovic tries to avenge her loss to Kristina Mladenovic just last week in Manila, and she did it with style. Hitting the ball with authority and capitalizing on Kristina’s errors, Ana cruised to a 6-2 win in double quick time. The Frenchwoman was visibly upset after her match, as she hurled her racquet onto her tennis bag.
Mladenovic had to regroup fast as she was up next in mixed doubles, partnering Nenad Zimonjic against Indian Aces’ Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna. Despite starting with a break, the UAE Royals were unable to hold on to that advantage due to loose play from Nenad. The set had to be decided by a 5 minute shoot-out which the Indian Aces won.
Perhaps still feeling the effects of his injury last week in Manila, Marin Cilic chose to sit out of the men’s singles set, replaced by little known Malek Jaziri. Gael Monfils totally outclassed his Tunisian opponent, as he entertained the crowd with his on-court antics. The tennis lesson was over in a flash with Gael winning 6-1.
It was time for the wily Fabrice Santoro to take the court against the big serving Goran Ivanisevic. Even though Goran had a more illustrious career, Fabrice’s unorthodox game gave the ex-Wimbledon champion fits, and the Croat had to retire midway through the match due to a hamstring strain. He was replaced by Zimonjic, but it was not enough to stop Fabrice from cementing a 6-2 win.
With 4 straight victories, the Indian aces added on the misery by winning their last set as well. Rohan Bopanna partnered Gael Monfils to top Marin Cilic and Nenad Zimonjic 6-1. The current US Open champion was not hitting the ball well, even though he only had to cover half the court. Indian Aces clinched the tie with a dominant 30-11 thrashing of the UAE Royals, the biggest margin so far in the event. There was a bit of controversy at the end, when Monfils took offence to Zimonjic’s smash near him. The pair was seen having a long conversation after the match with Gael sounding off his displeasure.
Home team Singapore Slammers attempts to clinch their first tie win against Manila Mavericks. With the home ground support, the Singapore Slammers are favoured against a weakened Manila Mavericks, which is missing Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova. Tennis legend Andre Agassi drew the most cheers when he was introduced, and kicked off the tie against big-serving Mark Philippoussis. The Australian was on song today, hitting booming serves down, rarely missing the mark. Agassi fought valiantly to keep the score close, but was unable to avoid the loss of the set 3-6.
The Slammers then fielded the experienced Lleyton Hewitt and Tomas Berdych in the men’s doubles. Treat Huey partnered Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the Manila Mavericks in this set, with Treat being the star player. The other 3 players are predominantly singles players, so Huey’s lightning quick hands were too much for the Slammers to handle. The Manila Mavericks springs another surprise win, 6-4.
In a must win set, Tomas Berdych had the pressure firmly on his shoulders against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The Czech had an early break, but faltered badly when serving for the set. Tsonga fought back and clinched the shootout to add another win for the Mavericks.
Serena Williams then partnered Nick Krygios to take on Kirsten Flipkens and Daniel Nestor. Doubles play requires a different skill set from singles, so Nestor already has the advantage. Even though Serena didn’t play badly, Krygios was perhaps too eager to please and committed a lot of errors. Another 3-6 loss for Singapore Slammers.
Even if Serena wins her set 6-0, Singapore Slammers would have lost the tie. Still, the world number 1 put her best effort in to salvage some pride. Despite falling back early with a break, Serena rebounded and clinched the only set for Singapore today in a close 6-5 win.
Singapore Slammers are still winless so far, so they will need your support for their remaining ties. Tickets are still available for purchase at the Singapore Sports Hub website, so grab the opportunity of the lifetime to catch all the tennis legends in one event!
About the writerAs an avid tennis fan, Sean Long keeps up to date with the happenings of the world of tennis. He lives and breathes tennis and also plays the sport. Aside from tennis, Sean maintains his health by sweating it out at the gym and enjoys food and travel.
