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The Coca-Cola International Tennis Premier League (IPTL) continued to entertain the crowds on day two of the Singapore leg. It was the turn of the Manila Mavericks and UAE Royals to battle it out in the first match of the day. With both teams on equal points with two wins and two defeats each, it was bound to be a competitive contest. Here is how the action unfolded in Singapore.
Legends’ singles – Goran Ivanisevic (UAE Royals) vs Mark Philippoussis (Manila Mavericks)
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The first game saw the two legends from the respective sides face off against each other. The Scud has been in impressive form after replacing the injured Carlos Moya for the Mavericks, and seemed eager to continue his good work. Former Wimbledon champion Ivanisevic, meanwhile, always has his serve to bail him out of trouble.
The two kept exchanging games as neither player could get a comfortbale two-game lead. They battled all the way to a shoot-out, which also turned out to be an intense tussle. It was the Australian who narrowly edged ahead to take the shoot-out by 6-4 points, and with that result, Philippoussis gave the Mavericks a narrow lead in the match.
Result: Philippoussis beat Ivanisevic 6-5 (6-4).
Men’s singles – Marin Cilic (UAE Royals) vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Manila Mavericks)
US Open champion Marin Cilic took on French tennis star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second set. After a comfortable hold from Tsonga, Cilic kept serve and broke the Frenchman to take a 2-1 lead. The 26-year-old Croat managed to break Tsonga’s serve once again to give the Mavericks a massive 4-1 lead.
However, in this format, it is foolish to rule out any player at any stage. Tsonga fought back with some powerful strokes to break back the Cilic serve and reduce the deficit. But a crucial time-out at 5-4 and deuce helped Cilic stop the Mavericks’ momentum. He managed to win the deciding point and take the set 6-4.
Result: Cilic beat Tsonga 6-4.
Men’s doubles – Nenad Zimonjic/ Marin Cilic (UAE Royals) vs Treat Huey/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Manila Mavericks)
With the Royals narrowly leading 11-10, the tie was still up for grabs. At 3-2 in the third set, the Mavericks made good use of their Happiness Power Point by breaking the Royals’ serve to get a two-game lead. Tsonga and Huey then managed to stay calm under pressure and held their nerve and serve.
The lone break of serve was enough for the Mavericks to take the set 6-3. Tsonga was the star of the set, playing great tennis on crucial points to win the battle for his team.
Result: Huey/Tsonga beat Zimonjic/Cilic 6-3.
Mixed doubles – Nenad Zimonjic/Kristina Mladenovic (UAE Royals) vs Daniel Nestor/Kirsten Flipkens (Manila Mavericks)
In what turned out to be a one-sided affair, the UAE Royals’ pair of Nenad Zimonjic and Kristina Mladenovic made full use of their blistering start to the set. The Mavericks’ pair of Daniel Nestor and Kirsten Flipkens had no answers whatsoever as the Royals raced to a 5-0 lead.
Nestor and Flipkens managed to grab a consolation game but that is all they would get as the Royals closed out the set 6-1.
Result: Zimonic/Mladenovic beat Nestor/Flipkens 6-1.
Women’s singles – Kirstina Mladenovic (UAE Royals) vs Kirsten Flipkens (Manila Mavericks)
Kirsten Flipkens entered the final set of the match knowing that a convincing win was necessary to win the match for the Mavericks. The 21-year-old Mladenovic on the other hand could afford to play pressure-free thanks to the the Royals’ big lead.
She broke Flipkens’ serve in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. But Mladenovic hit back immediately, and multiple service breaks were witnessed by the enthusiastic Singapore crowd as both players remained tied at 4-4. A crucial break at that stage took Mladenovic just one game away from winning the set and the match for the Royals. The young Frenchwoman wrapped up the set 6-4 to seal an impressive victory for the UAE Royals.
Result: Mladenovic beat Flipkens 6-4.
With an impressive overall performance the UAE Royals won the match 26-21 to move to second place in the standings of the ‘Happiness Open’. Both teams played excellent aggressive tennis, much to the delight of the fans, but it was the Royals who played the big points better.
The Coca-Cola IPTL has consistently managed to put together high quality tennis in a fun and innovative format, and it will be interesting to see how the remaining matches unfold.
