Indian Premier Tennis League fever grips Dubai

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Indian Aces beat Singapore as UAE witness new kind of tennis from superstars Ana Ivanovic in action against Daniela Hantuchova during the IPTL tournament in Dubai on Thursday. — KT photos by Shihab

Dubai — The UAE for the first time witnessed tennis being played by superstars in a different way when the fourth and final leg of the four-team Coca-Cola Indian Premier Tennis League (IPTL) presented by Qatar Airways took off at the Hamdan Sports Complex off the Emirates Road (formerly Dubai Bypass Road) Thursday.

The Microxmax Indian Aces beat DBS Singapore Slammers 4-1 (total point accumulation 28-24 in favour of Micromax) in the first fixture. To make it simpler for everyone the main thing to remember apart from a long list of ‘revolutionary’ rules and formats the ITPL is all about the ‘Set’ which is equivalent to the traditional match (three sets or five sets) in a fixture.

Then there are a lot of other variations to make it ‘entertaining’ as well like the total points accumulated in time bound shootouts the super shootouts and extra time among others. At the time of going to the Press Caroline Wozniacki of Musafir.com UAE Royals beat Kirsten Flipkens (Manila Mavericks) 6-2 in the Women’s Singles first Set of the second fixture for the day giving her side a 1-0 lead.

Wozniacki said: “The competition is getting tighter and we are into serious business as well. This has been a good time for me with a lot of gym workouts on side and jogging. We hope to keep the Musafir.com UAE Royals going after my first match win.” Superstar Novak Djokovic (Musafir.com) was scheduled to meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Manila) in the third set.

Meanwhile in the first fixture the first Set of the Women’s Singles between Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova was locked 5-5 and the shootout was applied over 12 serves. Ana clad in her usual all-black outfit retrieved practically every ball that Daniela in her deep pink threw at her. Ana came out tops 9-3 in the shootout to put Micromax Indian Aces ahead 1-0 with a 6-5 Set win.

“I was tentative at first and with Daniela playing consistently on this surface I had to re-adjust very quickly indeed in this kind of a tournament. I managed gathered points at the critical moments especially in the deciding points race” Ana said immediately after the first set. In Set 2 (Legends Men’s Singles) it was sheer touch play and artistry between ‘Magician’ Fabrice Santoro and Patrick Rafter where Santoro sliced and used the top spin brilliantly to go after Rafter.

Santoro sat well ahead with breaks of serve and by holding serve for a 3-0 headstart before going on to win 6-2 for Micromax to occupy a commanding 2-0 seat. Rafter in the late stages tried every trick he knew and even served and volleyed like in his younger days.

Fabrice said: “Some players don’t like the slice and the touch and I used it a lot today (Thursday). The first games went close though I kept winning them and as Patrick was slowly getting used to the surface. He served very well.” Set 3 saw the crowd pulling Mixed Doubles where Rohan Bopanna kept Sania Mirza company against Daniela Hantuchova and Bruno Soares.

Daniela and Soares pushed the favoured Indian team players hard to hold serve in the seventh to lead 4-3. The shootout after a 5all stalemate saw Bopanna and Sania put pressure on Daniela to clinch it at 7-5 giving Micromax a big team jump for 3-0. “Playing at a new venue and surface did make some difference but we settled in quickly to make possible the big lead for the team” said Sania.

Men’s Doubles play was fierce as expected when Gael Monfils and Bopanna encountered Lleyton Hewitt and Soares.

Break of serves went both ways in the fifth and sixth games to see Micromax in front (4-2). They clinched the issue 6-3 and made sure of a 24-16 overall match points standing as Hewitt and Soares made some unforced errors in front. “It was great experience and fun playing with Gael. So much of energy he brings to the court” said Bopanna

Gael Monfils took on Tomas Berdych in the final match – ‘Men’s Singles’ – and it turned out to be entertaining with both players going for stylish shots which later developed into a hot battle after the sixth game. The extra energy levels infused into the Set saw Berdych winning 8-4 with a final outcome match point readout of 28-24 in favour of the Micromax.

Royal welcome to UAE

Dubai — Sheikha Shaikha bint Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan welcomed the inaugural season of the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League to the UAE.

She applauded the participating players representing the UAE. US Open champion and world No. 9 Marin Cilic world number one Novak Djokovic Kristina Mladenovic Caroline Wozniacki Goran Ivanisevic Nenad Zimonjic and Arab player Malek Jaziri are taking part in the event. “We are proud to host such a prestigious event as the IPTL in the UAE and wish all teams good luck” Sheikha Shaikha said.