IPTL 2015: Indian Aces rout UAE Royals as Nadal beats Federer in tense shootout
Today marked the second meeting between the UAE Royals and the Indian Aces, although the team lineups were different the last time the two sides met.
Former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, having completed her IPTL obligation, didn't take the court for the UAE Royals; neither did their men’s singles champion and World No. 6 Tomas Berdych. Fulfilling the pair’s roles were doubles specialist Kristina Mladenovic and Croat ace Marin Cilic respectively.
But the most significant addition to the team was in the form of former World No. 1 and arguably the greatest of all time, Swiss ace Roger Federer. And his presence, even though it was only for a single match, would no doubt have buoyed the team and motivated them to perform.
That said, the Indian Aces have been in stellar form – as a team and individually. They also had the home advantage, with immense support from the crowd – although Roger Federer received a rousing welcome too. Ultimately, the squad depth of the Aces proved too tough for the Royals to counter, who failed to take advantage of Federer's presence.
Here’s how the tie unfolded:
Mixed Doubles: Mirza/Bopanna (Indian Aces) vs Mladenovic/Nestor (UAE Royals)
Mladenovic and Nestor, who have won Majors titles together, were on the backfoot going into the tie; they have lost two sets this IPTL, one against the Japan Warriors side and another against Mirza and Bopanna in the teams’ last tie.
In addition to that, the Aces pair also had crowd support on which to lean if things got tough.
Doubles World No. 1 Sania Mirza and top 10 player Rohan Bopanna got off to a blinder straightaway, with the Indian Aces taking a 3-0 lead. At game point for the fourth game, however, Nestor and Mladenovic made a late charge and looked to seize the set back for the UAE Royals, managing to break Mirza and Bopanna.
Hitting eight winners, the UAE Royals pair managed to make a rousing comeback to take the set score to 4-3, still in favour of the Aces.
Unfortunately for the pair and the team though, it was not enough, with the Indian Aces closing out the first set 6-4 and giving the Aces an overall lead.
Result: Mirza/Bopanna def. Nestor/Mladenovic 6-4
Women’s singles: Agnieszka Radwanska (Indian Aces) vs Kristina Mladenovic (UAE Royals)
29th-ranked Mladenovic had regularly played the mixed doubles, partnering Daniel Nestor to good effect as the pair have taken four sets of the six they have played so far in this year’s IPTL.
Fresh off a dismal loss to the Japan Warriors, and up against the WTA Finals winner and World No. 5 Radwanska, Mladenovic was likely not high on confidence when she was asked to play singles in Ivanovic's absence.
Radwanska had the upper hand going in, and she played the set with aplomb. Surprisingly, it was Mladenovic who managed more winners; but she also played an error-strewn game – committing 11 unforced errors, as Radwanska, with only three, cruised to a 6-1 victory.
The win took the Indian Aces further in the lead – now at 12-5.
Result: Radwanska def. Mladenovic 6-1
Legends’ singles: Fabrice Santoro (Indian Aces) vs Goran Ivanisevic (UAE Royals)
The legends played each other most recently in Manila, where the Frenchman outclassed his big-serving opponent 6-3. The wily Santoro, known for his strategic tennis, has bamboozled multiple opponents, Ivanisevic among them, with the Croat looking a shadow of his former self.
As the set got underway, however, it seemed as though Goran had the upper hand.
Both players were extremely nimble, but it was Ivanisevic who at one point had a 5-2 lead over his opponent. It looked all but over for Santoro, who managed to stave off what seemed like the inevitable as he held to narrow the Royals' lead to 5-3.
But then the Frenchman pulled off some near-impossible winners, seemingly morphing into Usain Bolt as he ran across court. He leveled the set at 5-5 to take it to a shootout, snatching a win from the jaws of what seemed like a certain loss.
Santoro’s 6-5 win took the Aces to an 18-10 lead.
Result: Santoro def. Ivanisevic 6-5
Men’s Doubles: Nadal/Bopanna (Indian Aces) vs Federer/Cilic (UAE Royals)
This was the beginning of what fans had been waiting for. Federer and Nadal were on opposite sides of the net – each side with a former No. 1 and a doubles expert.
King of Clay Nadal has been unbeaten in the doubles so far, having paired up with both Ivan Dodig and Bopanna in the Indian Aces’ previous ties.
Bopanna’s deadly, big serves came in handy, and his camaraderie with Nadal on court no doubt aided their performance, as each team held their first few service games, with the Royals leading 3-2.
It was the Aces pair that managed to break their Royals rivals, taking advantage of some missed first serves by Federer. 12 winners from the fast-serving pair of Nadal and Bopanna helped them clear out the set 6-4.
The Aces’ set win took their lead to 24-14 against the Royals, and by this point they had already all but won the tie.
Result: Nadal/Bopanna def. Federer/Cilic 6-4
Men’s singles: Rafael Nadal (Indian Aces) vs Roger Federer (UAE Royals)
The match of the night, and possibly of the season – it was the tie everyone had been waiting for. 17 Grand Slams against 14 Major titles. The power of Nadal’s forehand versus the quick precision of Roger Federer.
Nadal opened the blockbuster set by breaking Federer, and consolidated it to take a 2-0 lead over the Royals. In return, Federer held and broke back to level the scores. Forgetting where he was for a second in the fifth game of the set, the umpire called a let, only to remember the no-let rule in the IPTL.
Rafa then brought out his signature Nadal smash, sending the ball flying across the court to seal the break. But the Greatest of All Time was not to be cowed down, bringing out his ace game to narrow the lead to 4-3.
With Nadal holding to go 5-3, it was Federer who was forced to serve to stay in the set. The Spaniard then failed to take advantage of two break points as Federer and the Royals took the game to trail 5-4.
The Spaniard was now serving for the set as the Swiss Maestro brought out a blinding 144kmph winner to take a point. The Swiss built on this as he hit back at Nadal, managing to narrowly bring his shot in and go up 0-30. A forehand error from the Spaniard then gave Federer the game, much to the delight of the crowd who wanted to see more tennis.
With Fedal now level at 5-5, the final game of the night went to a shootout, with the first to seven points the winner. Nadal took an early lead here, up 5-2 at one point.
The Swiss came back convincingly to go get to 4-5, but he eventually lost the shootout 7-4. With this, the final set went to Rafael Nadal 6-5, the Spaniard hitting 12 winners along the way to Federer’s 10.
The Aces had already won the tie, but Nadal’s victory took the final tally to 30-19.
Result: Nadal def. Federer 6-5