The Indian Aces were defeated by Japan Warriors 27-20 in the first match on Wednesday, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The Aces lost the opening, the legends’ singles set to the Warriors after Mark Philippoussis was beaten 6-5 in the shoot-out by Fernando Gonzalez. Any hopes of the Aces staging a comeback in the second set, with Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna taking to the court against Jelena Jankovic and Jean-Julien Rojer were put paid after the Serbian-French team of the Warriors won the set 6-4. Jankovic’s 6-4 win in the women’s singles set that followed, over the Aces’ Kirsten Flipkens, saw the team widen their lead in the match, 18-13.
There appeared to be a slight shift of the momentum in the Aces’ favour when Ivan Dodig and Feliciano Lopez grabbed the men’s doubles set 6-3 against the Warriors’ pair of Rojer and Fernando Verdasco. But the change was short-lived as Verdasco defeated his compatriot Lopez in the fifth set 6-1 to firmly clinch the Warriors’ second win in the event.
In the second session of the day’s play, Singapore Slammers won their second consecutive match at home defeating the UAE Royals 30-18. The Royals lost all five sets in the match and looked far from convincing throughout the match. The men’s doubles and men’s singles sets went into the shoot-out, with the Slammers winning both.
On the final day’s play in Singapore on Thursday, the Warriors will take on the Royals in the first match before the Slammers play the Aces in the evening.
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