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With every passing day of the Coca-Cola International Tennis Premier League, the matches are turning more mercurial and unpredictable. And that trend continued on Day 2 of the Indian leg of the league.
The second match was an intense battle between the Royals and the Mavericks, where neither team seemed ready to concede defeat. Every set was a personification of modern day tennis and the players had to devise their blueprint for the game at every point. The roller-coaster ride was ultimately clinched by the Mavericks in thrilling fashion, and here is how it all went:
Legends’ singles: Mark Philippoussis (Manila Mavericks) vs. Goran Ivanisevic (UAE Royals)
The match began with the legends’ singles set. The composed Mark Philippoussis was up against Goran Ivanisevic, a former Wimbledon champion. The Croat looked keen to avenge his defeat at the hands of the Aussie in Singapore. But Philippoussis, who has been in excellent form, took a 3-0 lead against Ivanisevic. Ivanisevic finally got on the board in the fourth game with his mammoth serve to make it 1-3.
The two veterans made quite a few unexpected errors and double faults, and failed to capitalize on the Happiness Power Points. Ivanisevic used two aces in the eighth game and to hold easily, denying Philippoussis a chance to finish the match. But Philippoussis was very steady in the final game and won the set point easily, giving the Mavericks a three-game lead over the Royals.
Result: Philippoussis (Manila Mavericks) beat Ivanisevic (UAE Royals) 6-3.
Men’s singles: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Manila Mavericks) vs Marin Cilic (UAE Royals)
At the start of this explosive encounter, neither player was able to hold on to his serve. But as the intensity of the match grew, Cilic brought out his vaunted big delivery, along with some excellent drop shots.
The Croat took the Happiness Power Point in the fourth game and won it, making the score 3-1. With his cheeky drop shots and excellent serve, he won the fifth game too, establishing a big 4-1 lead.
Having lost three games in a row, Tsonga showed excellent resilience, hitting pinpoint volleys and aces and forcing Cilic into errors. Tsonga won a game to make it 4-2, and although he lost the next game, he had started looking on top his game, as he went on to win three games in a row to make the score 5-5.
But in the Shoot-out, the US Open champion used Tsonga’s tactics against him, taking the ball early and redirecting the Frenchman’s powerful shots with plenty of pace. Tsonga was out of answers, and Cilic used the Happiness Power Points to acquire a big lead and ultimately douse the Frenchman’s challenge.
Result: Cilic (UAE Royals) beat Tsonga (Manila Mavericks) 6-5.
UAE royals subs: Novak Djokovic
Men’s doubles: Tsonga/Nestor (Manila Mavericks) vs Zimonjic/Djokovic (UAE Royals)
The crowd got on its feet when Novak Djokovic came on as a substitute for Marin Cilic, making his debut in the Coca Cola IPTL. The Serb played along with his Davis Cup partner Zimonjic against the pairing of Tsonga and Nestor.
The Mavericks made the brighter start, taking a quick lead of 3-0 with a flurry of sharp net exchanges. But after a time-out late in the set, the Mavericks let the Serbians take control of the set, as Djokovic and Zimonjic roared back to bring the score level.
The teams finally went into a shoot-out with the score at 5-5. Tsonga didn’t repeat his mistakes from the last set, and brought out his full repertoire of skills to combat the Royals’ resurgence. The climax was nail-biting, but the Tsonga’s exemplary serving in the shoot-out ensured that the Mavericks won the set.
Result: Tsonga/Nestor (Manila Mavericks) beat Zimonjic/Djokovic (UAE Royals) 6-5.
Mixed doubles: Flipkens/Nestor (Manila Mavericks) vs Mladenovic/Zimonjic (UAE Royals)
With two back-to-back shoot-outs, this set was important for both the teams. And early on, all the four players showed exactly that, as they used a lot of deft drop shots and volleys to win points.
Mladenovic had a game average of 5.08 per set before this face-off, but today, she looked a tad out of touch as she struck a few loose shots. Zimonjic meanwhile seemed unnerved by the prospect of facing his old partner Nestor, and couldn’t muster up enough positive energy to carry Mladenovic.
The Mavericks dominated throughout the set whereas the Royals weren’t able to put up much of a time, resulting in a rather one-sided result.
Result: Flipkens/Nestor (Manila Mavericks) beat Mladenovic/Zimonjic (UAE Royals) 6-2.
Women’s singles: Kirsten Flipkens (Manila Mavericks) vs Caroline Wozniacki (UAE Royals)
In the final set of the match, Caroline Wozniacki was up against Kirsten Flipkens. In the absence of Maria Sharapova, Flipkens had a relatively easy task ahead of her; she just had to prevent Wozniacki from winning 6-0.
Wozniacki on her part had to win four games in a row after winning the set 6-3 to give the Royals another chance to defeat the Mavericks. But the Belgian held her ground, and didn’t let the Royals steal a win. Flipkens won the third game in overtime to make sure the match ended in favour of the Mavericks, 27-24.
Result: Wozniacki (UAE Royals) beat Flipkens (Manila Mavericks) 6-3.
