The UAE Royals recovered from their comprehensive defeat yesterday by defeating the Singapore Slammers 26-23 on the final day of the Philippine leg of the IPTL.
Going into the clash the team has played four previous matches, winning two of them. It was the second time they have played the Slammers after defeating them 26-20 in Kobe on December 2nd.
Proceedings started with a roller-coaster clash between Ana Ivanovic (UAE Royals) and Karolina Pliskova (Singapore Slammers). Both players experienced problems with their service throughout the set with the first four games of the set consisting of breaks. Ivanovic was the first player to hold her serve in the fifth game as she edged herself to 5-3. Serving for a chance to take the set for Royals, Ivanovic failed to see Pliskova off as the Czech battled back to level the set once again at 5-5. Despite failing to serve it out, the Serbian still managed to edge her way to the victory after beating her opponent 7-5 in the shoot-out. Despite winning, Ivanovic was only able to get 42% of her first serves in. In addition the Serbian produced 9 winners and 13 unforced errors.
Goran Ivanisevic was able to capitalize on his team-mate’s opening win when he defeated Spain’s Carlos Moya 6-4 in the Legends singles. The encounter was an error-stricken performance from both men with a total of 33 unforced errors (18 for Ivanisevic and 15 for Moya). During his professional career Ivanisevic has played the Spaniard four times, losing in three of them. His only triumph against Moya on the ATP Tour was in the third round of the 2001 Wimbledon Championships.
The UAE Royals winning onslaught continued in the mixed doubles. Kristina Mladenovic, who has won two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, paired up with Daniel Nestor against Nick Krygios and Belinda Bencic. Despite a positive start from the Slammers, who broke Mladenovic and Nestor in the third game. They were unable to hold on to the lead as the Royals levelled the set once again. At 4-4, Mladenovic and Nestor struck once again as they won two consecutive games to take the set 6-4. The winning pair produced 13 winners and 8 unforced errors.
Trailing 13-18, the Singapore Slammers had to ensure that they produced a big win in the fourth set men’s doubles to keep within contention. To the team’s delight they were able to do so when Kyrgios teams up with world No.1 doubles player Marcelo Melo. Facing Nestor and Tomas Berdych, the Slammers grabbed a crucial 6-2 victory to narrow the lead from five points to one.
The outcome of the match was decided with the fifth set men’s singles match between Berdych and Kyrgios. Last week Kyrgios beat Berdych 6-2 in the Kobe leg of the IPTL. Unlike their first encounter, it was a much closer set. As the proceedings went into the business end, Berdych started to apply pressure on Kyrgios. Serving 4-5, the Australian had a 30-0 lead before a duo of error enabled Berdych to level at 30-30, two points from victory. Due to the score, the Royals decided to use the crucial power point. The power point is worth two points and can only be used once in a set. After a brilliantly constructed rally, Berdych sealed the set with a drop shot at the net to give his team the win.
Speaking after his crucial win for the UAE Royals, Berdych was please with his performance.
“It was good fun. I think we played a solid set and that’s what matter”. He said.
“It’s great to finish with a win in Manila and hopefully we can bring this momentum to India”.
The next match for the Royals will be on December 10th against the Japan Warriors at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.
