Legendari Japan Warriors beat the OBI UAE Royals 24-21 in the first match of the IPTL at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Dehli. The Warriors lost the first two matches with Mirijana Lucic Baroni who lost 2-6 against Ana Ivanovic and Thomas Enqvist who lost 4-6 agaianst Goran Ivanisevic but recovered well by winning the men’s doubles and the mixed doubles before Pierre Hugues Herbert upset Tomas Berdych in the men’s singles.
In the women’s singles Ana Ivanovic eased past Mirjana Lucic Baroni 6-2 in 26 minutes.
Thomas Enqvist, who replaced injured Marat Safin for the men’s legends singles, was beaten by Goran Ivanisevic 6-4. Ivanisevic gave the UAE Royals the 2-0 lead.
Leander Paes and Pierre Hugues Herbert won an exciting men’s doubles match with 6-3 for the Japan Warriors over Daniel Nestor and Tomas Berdych.
Herbert stepped in for Phillip Kohlschreiber to win the men’s singles match for the Japan Warriors over Tomas Berdych with 6-4 providing the biggest upset of the day.
Lucic Baroni and Pierre Hugues Herbert eased past Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor 6-2 in the closing set.
“We started the first two sets well, but Herbert played brilliantly for the Warriors today winning both the men’s and the mixed doubles today. We didn’t expect to lose the men’s singles but that’s tennis. The format this year is very competitive where every game counts, so if you lose it’s important to get a good score up there”, said Ivanisevic.
Indian Aces thrashed Philippine Mavericks 30-12 in the second match to record the biggest margin in IPTL margin.
WTA Finals doubles champion Sania Mirza teamed up with her compatriot Rohan Bopanna got off to a winning start for the Indian Aces with a 6-2 victory in the mixed doubles match over Anja Tomlianovic and Treat Huey.
In the women’s singles WTA Finals singles champion Agnieszka Radwanska crushed Jarmila Gajdosova 6-1 in her IPTL debut.
Fabrice Santoro beat Mark Philippoussis 6-1 in the men’s legends singles match.
Rafa Nadal and Bopanna edged Edouard Roger Vasselin and Treat Huey 6-4 in the men’s doubles match.
Nadal closed out the set with a 6-4 win over Roger Vasselin.
“The IPTL is a great format, everything is so quick and anything can happen. It’s great to play in front of home fans and definitely the home advantage helps the home team to win. The IPTL is so competitive. It’s a tough match, everyone wants to win and tennis is of high quality. I enjoy this format. At this time of the year it is great to be here. It’s the perfect match practice. I am training hard. I get to play some competitive matches against some some good players”, said Nadal.
