IPTL: Ivanovic, Monfils star as Aces trounce Slammers
The Micromax Indian Aces trounced the DBS Singapore Slammers, 26-16, in the first match of the inaugural Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The mixed doubles pair of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna drew first blood for the Aces, defeating Bruno Soares and Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4.
Playing coach Fabrice Santoro extended the Aces’ lead slightly, overcoming Aussie great Pat Rafter, 6-5, in the past champions’ singles, to pad Micromax’s overall lead to 12-10.
But the Slammers came back strong in men’s doubles, with Soares teaming with Tomas Berdych to rout the Aces’ pair of Gael Monfils and Bopanna, 6-2, and grab the overall lead, 16-14.
Crowd favorite Ana Ivanovic then gave the lead back to the Aces with a clinical 6-0 drubbing of Hantuchova to make it 20-16 heading into the deciding men’s singles match between Monfils and former world no. 1 Lleyton Hewitt.
Monfils made short work of Hewitt, winning 6-1, to give the Aces the win.
The unique tournament aims to make tennis more fan-friendly, with features designed to speed up the game. Players are given 20 seconds to serve, otherwise they lose the point.
Receiving players may also call a power point once every set, which indicates that the next point will count double.
There is also no tiebreak in the event a set finishes at 5-all. Instead the players play a five-minute shootout to determine who wins the game. This is what happened in the past champions’ match when Santoro outlasted Rafter 11-7 after five minutes.
But this being the inaugural match, even the players themselves sometimes got confused. Monfils lost a point after he failed to execute his serve against Hewitt.
Overall, though, the atmosphere was festive and sets were finished more quickly. The Aces and Slammers were done with their five sets in a little under three hours.
For winning the match, the Aces were rewarded four points. The Slammers, on the other hand, earned one point for scoring more than 10 game points.
