Aces top inaugural IPTL; Mavericks finish third

MANILA, Philippines - The Micromax Indian Aces dominated the Manila Mavericks in the first four sets and went on to fashion out a 28-23 victory to capture the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) crown in Dubai yesterday.

Aces’ Fabrice Santoro dealt Mark Philippoussis’s first defeat in the tournament, 6-3, in the Legends set, then Gael Monfils clobbered another Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-2, in the men’s singles.

The Aces kept their mastery of the Mavericks as Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza thwarted Daniel Nestor and Kirsten Flipkens, 6-4, in the mixed doubles before Ana Ivanovic thumped Flipkens, 6-3, in the women’s singles to all but wrap up the win.

Nestor and Tsonga averted a shutout for the Mavericks by outlasting Bopanna and Monfils in a shootout in the men’s doubles. The Mavericks won 11 games in total until the Aces took one game to reach a total of four and the set was stopped.

The Aces actually will still face the DBS Singapore Slammers in today’s final day but their 38-point aggregate on eight wins and three losses have assured them the crown worth $1 million.

The Musafir.com UAE Royals, with six wins against five losses, finished second with 33 while the Mavericks settled for third with 31 on five wins against six setbacks.

The Slammers wound up fourth with 23 on three victories against eight losses.

Meanwhile, after struggling majority of their campaign, the Slammers closed out their stint with a 23-21 victory over the Novak Djokovic-led Musafir.com UAE Royals.

The Slammers took the last two sets to rally from 11-13 down and snatch the win on victories by Lleyton Hewitt and Nick Kyrgios over Nenad Zimonjic and Marin Cilic. 6-3, in the men’s doubles and world No. 7 Tomas Berdych win over the fancied world No. 1 Djokovic in the men’s singles shootout, 6-5.

Daniela Hantuchova opened the Slammers campaign with a crushing 6-1 victory over Caroline Wozniacki in the women’s singles but Goran Ivanisevic ripped Patrick Rafter, 6-1, in the Legends before Zimonjic and Kristina Mladenovic thwarted Hantuchova and Bruno Soares, 6-4, in the mixed doubles.