IPTL 2015: Indian Aces make a winning start to title defence

12/02/2015

Defending champions Indian Aces came from behind to defeat Japan Warriors 25-24 in their opening game of the second season of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) at Kobe Stadium in Japan. The visitors were trailing 9-12 after the first two ties, but head coach Fabrice Santoro led a fightback which culminated in a narrow one-point victory for the Aces.

In the IPTL format, the final result is decided upon the basis of the aggregate score of the five-match tie. The five matches are in the category of legends (singles), mixed doubles, women's singles, men's doubles and men's singles. Each tie also consists of five sets.

The Indian Aces were without two of their star players – Rafael Nadal and Agnieszka Radwanska – and initially seemed set for a poor start to the tournament.

The game started with the mixed doubles match between the Warriors' Maria Sharapova and Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Aces' Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna. Former World No.1 Sharapova broke Mirza's serve in the third game of the first tie, but the Indian pair fought back immediately by breaking the Russian star's serve in the next game.

Herbert caught the eye during the match with his wonderful serve and volley routine, while Bopanna, on the other side, displayed his new found finesse at the net.

With the match still on serve at 3-4, it was Sharapova's turn to serve. The Russian was one point away, at 40-30, from winning the game, when the Aces' coach Santoro decided to use the power point. The Indian pair took advantage of this shrewd move and broke Sharapova's serve once again.

The next game saw Bopanna serving for the set at 5-3 with a 30-0 lead through two fantastic serves. Things, however, turned on their head from that point. Japan Warriors decided to use their power point, and Herbert produced a fantastic winner to take the score to 30-30. A double fault from Bopanna eventually handed over the game to the Warriors to make it 5-5, thereby forcing the shootout. In the shootout, which is a race to seven, Sharapova and Herbert won seven points in a row to win the first tie for the Warriors.

World No.4 Sharapova used this momentum gained to win the women's singles match against 31-year-old Samantha Stosur 6-4 to provide the Warriors with a three-game lead at the end of the second tie.

Fabrice Santoro, however, came to Indian Aces' rescue in the third tie as he swept aside the legendary Marat Safin, who looked like a pale shadow of his former self, 6-2 to put his team into the lead for the first time.

The pair of Gael Monfils and Rohan Bopanna extended the Aces' lead with a 6-4 win over the team of Kei Nishikori and Herbert in the men's doubles game. Nishikori produced some scintillating tennis in the fifth and final tie of the match to win 6-4 in his singles tie against Monfils, but Indian Aces had created enough breathing space earlier to come out on top in the end.

Indian Aces will next face Singapore Slammers, who lost their opening game against UAE Royals 20-26 on December 4.