The UAE Royals got a consolatory 24-20 win over the Indian Aces to wrap up their 2016 International Premier Tennis League. The Royals won three out of the five sets played to finish off on a high note.
Thomas Johansson put the Royals in the lead in the opening set by defeating Aces’ Mark Philippoussis 6-2. The game difference between the two teams was reduced to one after Aces’ Kirsten Flipkens got the better of Ana Ivanovic in the women’s singles set, 6-3.
The Royals once again took a firm lead in the match as Ivanovic and Daniel Nestor won the men’s singles set over the Aces’ Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, 6-3. A set later, a win from Bopanna and Ivan Dodig – by the same margin – over Nestor and Pablo Cuevas saw the Aces trailing the Royals again by a point.
In the fifth set, Dodig kept Tomas Berdych at bay until the eighth game when he was broken decisively by the Czech, who clinched the match after serving out in the ninth game to win it, 6-3.
Earlier, Singapore Slammers defeated the Japan Warriors 30-20 to reach the IPTL final for the second consecutive year, where they will face the Indian Aces on Sunday. The Slammers won all five sets, two of them in a shoot-out to complete a comeback after two losses – incidentally to the Aces – against the resilient Warriors.
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