IPTL 2016 Results: Sunday Japan Tennis Scores, Winners and Singapore Schedule
The OUE Singapore Slammers
survived a Kei Nishikori-led fightback in the International Premier Tennis League on Sunday to beat the Japan Warriors 27-23.
The Warriors headed into the final set trailing by nine games, but Nishikori was able to force overtime and pulled back five before Nick Kyrgios was able to recover and finish him off.
Earlier, the UAE Royals thrashed the Indian Aces 30-20, winning the first four sets before tying 6-6 in the men's doubles to finish off.
Tomas Berdych all-but sealed the win in the fourth as he beat Feliciano Lopez 6-3 to give the Royals an almost unassailable 10-game lead heading into the final set after Thomas Johansson, Martina Hingis and Pablo Cuevas had won their matches.
Here are the final scores, per the IPTL's official Twitter feed:
| Tuesday, December 6 | 9 a.m./4 a.m. | UAE Royals vs. Indian Aces |
| Tuesday, December 6 | 12:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. | OUE Singapore Slammers vs. Japan Warriors |
| Wednesday, December 7 | 9 a.m./4 a.m. | Japan Warriors vs. Indian Aces |
| Wednesday, December 7 | 12:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. | OUE Singapore Slammers vs. UAE Royals |
| Thursday, December 8 | 9 a.m./4 a.m. | Japan Warriors vs. UAE Royals |
| Thursday, December 8 | 12:30 p.m./7:30 a.m. | OUE Singapore Slammers vs. Indian Aces |
The IPTL will now head to Singapore. Here is the schedule before it then moves to Hyderabad, India, per its official website:
Japan Warriors 23-27 OUE Singapore Slammers
Jelena Jankovic took on Kiki Bertens in the opening set and the latter broke twice to pull away from her opponent and win 6-2.
The Warriors pulled back a game in the second set as Jankovic and Jean-Julien Rojer edged out Bertens and Kyrgios courtesy of a shootout, but a sublime effort from Carlos Moya to beat Marat Safin 6-1 put the Slammers firmly in control of the contest.
Nishikori and Fernando Verdasco entered the fray in the men's doubles against Kyrgios—who was substituted for Marcos Baghdatis—and Marcelo Melo, but they were unable to eat into the Slammers' lead as they slipped to a 6-5 defeat after a shootout.
In the final set, a comeback from 0-40 down sparked an incredible run of seven successive games for Nishikori as he forced overtime against Kyrgios. The Japanese star was unable to complete the unlikely comeback, though, as Kyrgios eventually regained enough composure to pull a game back and end the match:
The win lifts the Slammers off the bottom of the standings with their first victory in this year's competition. They'll take on the Warriors in a rematch in their first outing in Singapore.
UAE Royals 30-20 Indian Aces
Johansson made his debut in the competition on Sunday and got his team off to an excellent start, breaking Mark Philippoussis twice to win 6-3 in the legends' singles.
Kirsten Flipkens was unable to repeat her heroics from Saturday despite opening her set against Hingis with a break, and the Royals extended their lead to five games. Hingis then joined Cuevas to take on Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, and they enjoyed another 6-4 win.
In the men's singles, Lopez was unable to offer much resistance against Berdych, who took full advantage of some loose play from his opponent to sweep to a 6-3 victory.
Lopez partnered Bopanna in the men's doubles to finish off, taking on Cuevas and Daniel Nestor, but despite a strong showing they were unable to end the match with a win to their name:
The UAE Royals celebrated their victory after losing 23-20 to the Japan Warriors on Saturday:
The Royals are now top of the standings but level on seven points with the Aces, against whom they'll kick off proceedings in Singapore on Tuesday.
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