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After some exciting Group B action, it is time to turn our attention once more to Group A as the Raipur Rangers host the Mumbai Tennis Masters at the Balbir Juneja Stadium on Tuesday. Both these teams will be hungry for wins after suffering losses in their most recent group assignments.
While Raipur Rangers, who are currently second-placed in Group A, succumbed to a 15-23 defeat against the group toppers Punjab Marshalls, it is a dire scenario for the Mumbai franchise who haven’t been able to register a single win in three matches so far.
This is the last chance for redemption for the Masters, but it is an uphill task for them as they went down 14-23 in their last encounter against the Rangers. Will they be able to finally reverse the trend?
We take a look:
Women’s singles: Alize Cornet vs Flavia Pennetta
World No. 42 Alize Cornet showed her mental fortitude in her last meeting with Mumbai Tennis Masters’ Flavia Pennetta, as she stormed back from a break down to see off her veteran opponent 5-2.
And the Frenchwoman managed to do this despite the fact that she had never been able to get the better of the recently-retired Italian in five career meetings. But never count Flavia Pennetta out! She won the US Open this year ranked 26th, when no one envisaged her as the eventual champion.
The 33-year-old, who ended her career at No. 8 in the rankings, has a deadly backhand and is also extremely skilled at the net.When she gets those angles on her backhands working, she can wreak havoc on the biggest names in the tennis world - and Cornet needs to be wary of that.
Legends’ singles: Thomas Muster vs Richard Krajicek
The fans will once more get a chance to savour some classic serve-and-volley pitted against strong counterpunching when Richard Krajicek and Thomas Muster lock horns in Raipur.
The 1996 Wimbledon champion Krajicek was pinpoint with his serve and thoroughly aggressive at the net when the two met earlier in Mumbai. He broke the Austrian with some blistering returns in the opening game of the set, and then comfortably held his serve till the end for victory.
However, the circumstances are different this time. Unlike their last meeting when the Dutchman arrived high on confidence after winning his set against the Punjab Marshalls, this time he is coming in after losing to Greg Rusedski of Punjab.
Could that help the 1995 French Open champion Muster in finding a chink in the armour of Krajicek? The Austrian, who is adept on the slower surfaces and was once dubbed the ‘King of Clay’, is tied at 2-2 in their career face-offs - and just one out of those four matches ended in straight sets.
Muster certainly knows how to handle Krajicek and perhaps, with the boisterous crowd support at Raipur, he might just turn things around.
Men’s singles: Roberto Bautista Agut vs Santiago Giraldo
The 25th ranked Roberto Bautista Agut of the Raipur Rangers has been in immaculate form and has won both his singles sets so far at the 2015 CTL. The former World No. 14 has been calm and consistent in the crunch moments and let his solid game do the talking against Mumbai’s Santiago Giraldo and even against the very tough Marcos Baghdatis of the Punjab Marshalls.
That would sound ominous to the 70th-ranked Giraldo who remains winless so far and who also has a losing 0-2 record against Bautista Agut. However, the 28-year-old Colombian has been on the professional circuit for 11 years and certainly knows how to trouble the very best.
That might still not be enough to upstage the Spaniard though, who has more variety and is playing his matches with admirable poise and unwavering determination.
Men’s doubles: Bautista Agut/Ramanathan vs Giraldo/Balaji
Promising 21-year-old Ramkumar Ramanathan and Roberto Bautista Agut gelled well in their outing against the Mumbai team of Santiago Giraldo and Sriram Balaji in their away tie. Ramanathan's fearsome forehand coordinated with Bautista Agut’s expertise at the net, and that ultimately helped the Rangers secure a 5-2 victory.
Can the pair of Balaji and Giraldo penetrate into the seemingly impervious defense of the Raipur team this time? The Mumbai duo has to look for a lapse from the hosts and capitalize on it; and they have the required experience to handle such situations.
Balaji is the holder of five ITF Futures doubles titles in 2015 and Giraldo too regularly plays doubles on the ATP tour. Besides, they also prevailed in a very tight men’s doubles contest against Punjab in their most recent match.
It would need such a courageous display under pressure from the visitors to inflict any kind of damage on the formidable fortress of the Indo-Spanish duo.
Mixed doubles: Bautista Agut/Cornet vs Giraldo/Pennetta
With the 2011 Australian Open women’s doubles-winning Flavia Pennetta in their ranks, it was expected that the Mumbai Tennis Masters were in safe hands at least in mixed doubles. But unfortunately for them, the Italian flattered to deceive.
That said, the former World No. 1 did show flashes of her brilliance when Mumbai hosted the Rangers. Armed with Giraldo’s powerful groundstrokes, the Italian made early inroads into Cornet and Bautista Agut’s game and looked all set for the win. However, the Italian-Colombian combine relinquished the lead soon after and succumbed to a 3-5 defeat.
Is it finally time for Pennetta to rectify those errors and mesmerize her Indian fans with her doubles prowess? This is, after all, Mumbai’s last chance for redemption, and if Pennetta clicks, it can make a big impact on the outcome of this match.
