The Indian Aces rebounded from their shock defeat against the UAE Royals in the final match in Tokyo to start their IPTL campaign in Singapore on a winning note. The Aces won 26-19 against the Royals on the opening day’s play at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.
In the first set of the match, Aces’ Kirsten Flipkens cruised to a 6-3 win over Ana Ivanovic. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna then secured the mixed doubles set for the Indian team, with the same margin, over Martina Hingis and Pablo Cuevas. The third set, played between Mark Philippoussis and Thomas Johansson, was also won by the same score-line by the Australian for the Aces.
Wins in the opening three sets were an adequate buffer for the Aces, who lost the fourth set when Feliciano Lopez was bested by Tomas Berdych 6-2 in the men’s singles. The losing momentum didn’t last long for the Aces, who won the fifth set 6-4 after Lopez and Ivan Dodig defeated the Royals’ men’s doubles team of Cuevas and Nestor.
The second match featured hosts Singapore Slammers against the Japan Warriors. The home team, never looked to be in any trouble, as they won 29-16 winning four of the five sets. Jean-Julien Rojer and Fernando Verdasco defeated the Slammers’ team of Marcos Baghdatis and Marcelo Melo – who’d replaced Nick Kyrgios in the set – in the shoot-out 7-6 to win the set, 6-5.
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