The Indian Aces registered a 24-19 win over the Singapore Slammers to enter the final of the International Premier Tennis League in Hyderabad on Friday.
This will be the Indian Aces’ third appearance in the final of the franchise-based tennis league.
Playing their first game in India this year, the Aces began with a flourish. Feliciano Lopez and Ivan Dodig gave them a winning start in the match with a 6-2 win over the Slammers’ Marcelo Melo and Marcos Baghdatis in the men’s doubles set.
Lopez then followed this up by defeating Nick Kyrgios 6-0 in the men’s singles tie.
Kiki Bertens’ 6-2 win over Aces’ Kirsten Flipkens was followed by Carlos Moya’s 6-4 win over Thomas Enqvist in the legends singles. The two wins helped the Slammers come within reach of avenging Thursday’s defeat to the Aces.
But it wasn’t to be, as the Indian mixed doubles team of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna wrapped up a win over the Slammers’ pairing of Bertens and Baghdatis. The win however came after some drama, as both teams traded breaks. Eventually, the Indians clinched the set, and the win, for the Aces in the shoot-out, 6-5.
In the first match of the Indian leg, the Japan Warriors’ 25-20 win over the UAE Royals saw them knock the latter team out of contention for a place in Sunday’s finals. The Warriors lost only the women’s singles set, where the Royals’ Ana Ivanovic defeated the Warriors’ Kurumi Nara 6-1. The men’s singles set went into the overtime as Tomas Berdych won the set for the Royals. But Fernando Verdasco was able to equalise the score at 6-6 that saw the Warriors win and jump to the second place in the team standings.
The Indian Aces will play the UAE Royals on Saturday in the prime-time match, while the Singapore Slammers will open the day session against the Japan Warriors.
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