International Premier Tennis League Results 2014: India Scores and Winners
The International Premier Tennis League calendar shifted its focus to India over the weekend as the UAE Royals sought to defend their spot at the head of the standings.
After Day 8 on Monday, the United Arab Emirates franchise had surrendered their lead to the Indian Aces, who narrowly set the overall pace on 30 points to 27, per the competition's official website.
Read on for a full update of results from India.
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Monday Recap
Novak Djokovic's UAE Royals triumphed with a 29-22 win over Roger Federer's Indian Aces on Monday, after the pair played out a thrilling 6-6 stalemate at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, per ESPN.
The days' full results are highlighted below:
| Women's Singles | Ana Ivanovic | 5-6 | Kristina Mladenovic |
| Legend's Singles | Pete Sampras (Fabrice Santoro) | 3-6 | Goran Ivanisevic |
| Mixed Doubles | Rohan Bopanna (Roger Federer) & Sania Mirza | 2-6 | Nenad Zimonjic & Mladenovic |
| Men's Doubles | Federer and Sampras (Gael Monfils) | 6-5 | Marin Cilic (Novak Djokovic) & Zimonjic |
| Men's Singles | Federer | 6-6 | Djokovic |
| Final Score | 22-29 |
Djokovic and Federer completed an entertaining run of fixtures in front of the Indian crowd. Similar to clashes on tour between the pair, the punches were back-and-forth. The fast nature of the competition ensured both players went for broke, exchanging winners on their way to a result which couldn't have altered the Royals' overall win.
Earlier in the day, Kristina Mladenovic toppled Ana Ivanovic 6-5 to set the eventual winners on their way. Pete Sampras was unable to go the distance during his legends' clash with Goran Ivanisevic. Fabrice Santoro stepped in, but the Croatian prevailed 6-3 against his duo of opponents.
Federer also made his way onto the court early, but was unable to help Sania Mirza beat the solid Nenad Zimonjic and Mladenovic partnership in the mixed doubles. The Swiss star provided cover for Rohan Bopanna, giving fans a glimpse of what was to come.
Gael Monfils later stepped in for Sampras during the men's doubles, in which he and Federer beat Djokovic and Zimonjic.
Despite the three-day leg being decided by the time the main event arrived, those within the stadium appeared to enjoy an intriguing encounter between two of the world's best. The Indian Aces now head the table heading into the IPTL's last stop in Dubai, with everything to play for as the tournament's curtain prepares to lower.
Sunday Recap
| Past Champions' Singles | Pete Sampras | 2-6 | Patrick Rafter |
| Mixed Doubles | Roger Federer / Sania Mirza | 6-0 | Daniela Hantuchova / Nick Kyrgios |
| Men's Doubles | Roger Federer / Rohan Bopanna | 6-1 | Lleyton Hewitt / Nick Kyrgios |
| Men's Singles | Roger Federer | 6-4 | Tomas Berdych |
| Women's Singles | Ana Ivanovic | 6-5 | Daniela Hantuchova |
| Final Score | Micromax Indian Aces | 26-16 | DBS Singapore Slammers |
| Past Champions' Singles | Goran Ivanisevic | 3-6 | Mark Philippoussis |
| Men's Singles | Marin Cilic | 6-5 | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga |
| Men's Doubles | Nenad Zimonjic / Novak Djokovic | 5-6 | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga / Daniel Nestor |
| Mixed Doubles | Nenad Zimonjic / Kristina Mladenovic | 2-6 | Daniel Nestor / Kirsten Flipkens |
| Women's Singles | Carolina Wozniacki | 8-4 | Kirsten Flipkens |
| Final Score | UAE Royals | 24-27 | Manila Mavericks |
The Indian Aces and the Manila Mavericks both picked up crucial victories on Day 8 of the IPTL campaign.
It was Roger Federer—making his competition debut—who inspired the Aces to victory in their clash with the Singapore Slammers, picking up victories in all three of his matches and helping his team to a 26-16 victory. The Swiss maestro won his singles leg with Tomas Berdych 6-4 after excelling in the doubles clashes alongside Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza.
Ahead of his tournament bow, Federer spoke of his excitement of playing in India, per Times Of India:
"It is special (to be in India) to say the least. I have played in many places in the world, but there is nothing like playing somewhere for the first time.
India is a big country with lots of history, tradition in culture or sport and to come and finally play here is really a pleasure and privilege.
"
The 17-time grand slam champion showed his versatility in the three matches he played, and will be major asset to the Aces as they look to win the inaugural version of this competition. Indeed, in the two double's matches he player, Federer only dropped one game, winning 6-1 in the men's doubles and 6-0 in mixed version.
Sky Sports Tennis paid tribute to Federer's debut:
He wasn't the only tennis icon making his debut in the tournament either, as we can see here courtesy of the official IPTL account:
It wasn't to be quite as profitable day for Novak Djokovic, though. The world No. 1 only played in one match, in which he and Nenad Zimonjic were unable to get the better of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Daniel Nestor.
Nestor in particular played superbly on the day, and he was on fire in the mixed doubles too, where he and Kirsten Flipkens were able to get the better of Zimonjic and Kristina Mladenovic and put their side in a commanding position.
The Mavericks boasted a sizeable lead going into the final leg of the match, but they were made to sweat a little for their victory. Caroline Wozniacki brought the Royals to within two points of the Mavericks at one stages as her star-studded team roared her on from the sidelines. But Flipkens was able to hold her nerve to give the Manila side their fourth win of the competition.
Saturday Recap
| Women's Singles | Ana Ivanovic | 6-2 | Kirsten Flipkens |
| Mixed Doubles | Rohan Bopanna / Sania Mirza | 5-6 | Daniel Nestor / Kirsten Flipkens |
| Men's Singles | Gael Monfils | 4-6 | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga |
| Past Champions' Singles | Cedric Pioline | 4-6 | Mark Phillippoussis |
| Men's Doubles | Rohan Bopanna / Gael Monfils | 6-5 | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga / Treat Huey |
| Final Score | Micromax Indian Aces | 26-25 | Musafir.com UAE Royals |
| Women's Singles | Caroline Wozniacki | 5-6 | Daniela Hantuchova |
| Mixed Doubles | Nenad Zimonjic / Kristina Mladenovic | 6-4 | Nick Kyrgios / Daniela Hantuchova |
| Men's Singles | Marin Cilic | 6-3 | Lleyton Hewitt |
| Past Champions' Singles | Goran Ivanisevic | 6-1 | Patrick Rafter |
| Men's Doubles | Nenad Zimonjic / Marin Cilic | 6-2 | Nick Kyrgios / Lleyton Hewitt |
| Final Score | Manila Mavericks | 29-16 | DBS Singapore Slammers |
The Indian Aces' 26-25 victory over the Manila Mavericks on Saturday was easily one of the most entertaining sessions fans have seen in this inaugural IPTL campaign, decided via super shootout.
The Aces' Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of the Mavericks were the headline characters in a dramatic day's action, where the former ultimately came up trumps.
Monfils teamed up with Rohan Bopanna to claim doubles victory over Tsonga and Treat Huey, but his compatriot return later in the day to hand him a 6-4 defeat and even the odds.
Ana Ivanovic's 6-2 win over Kirsten Flipkens forced the score to 25-25 at the end of proceedings, and Monfils prevailed 10-7 in the most dramatic of circumstances. Speaking to the official IPTL website following his win, Monfils said:
“We were ready for the Super Shootout in case Ana wins and that is exactly what happened and we are
thrilled with the win.”
The Indian Aces had lost their last two matchdays in a row leading up to the New Delhi encounter, so to get back to winning ways on home soil was the perfect fashion in which to go about their business.
Marin Cilic opened the action at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Saturday with a 6-3 thumping on Lleyton Hewitt.
Despite a brave comeback attempt from the latter, world No. 9 Cilic was more than a match for his Australian opponent, who as Sky Sports Tennis illustrated, was poor in defending his first serve:
And it wasn't the last Hewitt had seen of the Croat as Cilic came back to trump the Singapore Slammers in the doubles. He combined with Royals teammate Nenad Zimonjic to best a Slammers pairing of Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios 6-2.
Zimonjic also maintained his impressive pace in the doubles setting in the mixed arena. The partnership of Kyrgios and Daniela Hantuchova proved more difficult to overcome for him and Kristina Mladenovic, but the Royals' Saturday steamrolling continued with a 6-4 triumph.
Hantuchova did her best to save the Slammers after besting Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 in their afternoon fixture, having rely on her own mental fortitude in order to see out the tie.
As the official IPTL Twitter account attests, Hantuchova led 5-1 at one stage, but a late rally from Wozniacki threatened to put the result in danger:
Even after that win, though, it wouldn't be enough thanks to Goran Ivanisevic's 6-1 hammering of Patrick Rafter in the past champions' fixture earlier in the day, which proved pivotal in telling the two teams apart.
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