Rafael Nadal made a winning debut to this year’s IPTL after the Micromax Indian Aces produced an impressive 30-18 win over the OBI UAE Royals.
The match got underway with a high quality mixed doubles match featuring Indian duo Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza against Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor. Three out of the four players have won multiple Grand Slam titles in doubles events (Bopanna being the only exception). Together the combine Grand Slam title count is 15. During the 26-minute set it was the Aces who were triumphant as they edged out Mladenovic and Nestor 6-4. The Indian pair produced 13 winners, 6 aces and 4 unforced errors.
Mladenovic’s error count continued in the second set when she played two-time Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur in the women’s singles. The Frenchwoman came on as a substitute for Ana Ivanovic. Four double faults as well as 11 unforced error enabled Stosur to extend the lead for the Indian Aces as she won the set 6-3. Despite the seemingly one-sided scoreline, the Australian produced fewer winners (5 against 8) against Mladenovic.
The Indian Aces dominance continued in the men’s legends match between France’s Fabrice Santoro and Croatia’s Goran Ivanisevic. During their professional career, they have played each other eight times between 1990-2000 with the Croat winning the head-to-head 5-3. Representing the Aces, Santoro capitalised on a below-par performance from his 44-year-old opponent. The usually fast serving Ivanisevic only managed to get 39% of his first serves in and produced 14 unforced errors. In contrast the Frenchman produced 9 winners and just 4 unforced errors to take the set 6-3.
Despite leading 18-10, mathematically the Aces could of still lost the match. The fourth set featured the debut of Rafael Nadal for the Indian Aces. The nine-time French Open champion arrived in the Philippines over the weekend and yesterday hosted a training workshop with his uncle Toni Nadal. In the men’s doubles Nadal teamed up with Ivan Dodig. The two have previously played one doubles tournament together on the ATP Tour, which was at the 2014 Doha Open where they reached the quarter-final. Facing Nestor and Tomas Berdych, they ensure victory for the Indian Aces by taking the set 6-3 after just 23 minutes.
With a commanding lead of 24-13, they Aces still had a set to play. They could have lost the final set to love and still won. Rafael Nadal faced off against Tomas Berdych. The world No.5 has a strong record against the Czech on the ATP Tour. Nadal has beaten Berdych 19 times in his career and has only lost to him on four occasions. Despite the UAE Royals suffering a hammering, Berdych kept fighting for his team, to the delight of the crowd. Pushing Nadal all the way, the final set was decided by a shoot-out at 5-5. Similar to a tie-break, it is the first player to reach seven points with at least a two-point lead. The closeness during the set started to subside in the shoot-out when Nadal surged to 6-2 lead. After failing to convert his first set point, Nadal secured victory with a fast serve out wide. During the set, Nadal produced five winners and nine unforced errors compared to Berdych’s 13 winners and 17 unforced errors.
Shortly after his win against Berdych, Nadal admitted that he was impressed with the format of the event.
“It is very interesting the way we play”. Nadal said
“There is a fantastic crowd here in the Philippines”.
The dominating victory now takes The Indian Aces to the top of the IPTL table.
