Murray powers Slammers to halt Aces' five-win run

MANILA, Philippines -- The Singapore Slammers and the Dubai Royals overtook idle Philippine Mavericks in the team standings after posting big wins at the end of the Dubai leg Thursday in the 2015 Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League. 

Drawing a huge game from Andy Murray, the Slammers halted the defending champion Micromax Indian Aces' five-win streak with 27-16 dismantling while the Royals breezed past through Japan Warriors, 26-22, in the other match. 

The Slammers (6-3) moved up to second spot with an overall 228-207 record (52.4%) behind the Aces (8-2) who own a 257-209 record for a 55.2 winning percentage.

The Royals (4-5) are slightly ahead of the Mavericks (5-4) on winning percentage, 49.7% (214-217) to 49.2% (214-221).  

With player-coach Fabrice Santoro withdrawing from the opening set due to injury, the Aces had no choice but to sit out from the legends singles, giving the Slammers a 6-0 victory

Agnieszka Radwanska took the better of young Belinda Bencic in the women’s singles, winning the set 6-3 and giving the Aces some much needed points to bridge the opening set deficit

But in the Mixed doubles, Karolina Pliskova and Melo Brown outlasted the Aces' pair of Sania Mirza and Ivan Dodig, 6 (7)-5 (5) to give the Slammers a commanding 15-9 lead. 

The men’s doubles saw superb shot-making from Andy Murray and Marcelo Melo as they took out Dodig and Rohan Bopanna in 29 minutes, 6-4.

The clever shot-making of Melo and quick footwork from Murray proved to be too lethal as the Slammers wrapped up the win. 

Murray carried the momentum into men's singles racing to a big lead before Nick Kyrgios replaced him to score the last couple of points in an easy 6-1 victory. Murray went to the bench to a standing ovation after racing back-and-forth and and across the court with a winning stroke for anything that came his way from Bernard Tomic. 

“It’s been a great two days for me, the team’s played really well, and I loved the team atmosphere. The Aces have pretty much qualified but for us it’s about moving ahead of the rest and securing the no. 2 spot,” Murray said. 

Kyrgios echoed his teammate's sentiment. 

“Andy played great the last couple of days. We knew that he was going to be the main guy for our teamhere coming into Dubai. I think it’s not so much catching the Aces any more, it’s more solidifying our position into a strong second place to get to the finals," Kyrgios added. 

Meanwhile, the Royals overcame the opening set 3-6 loss of Goran Ivanisevic to Marat Safin and won enough games to overcome the Mavericks in the team standings. 

The singles saw Marin Cilic winning over Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3 to equalize the match. Then Cilic teamed up with Daniel Nestor in the mixed doubles and outlasted the tandem of Leander Paes and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 6 (7)-5 (2). 

Kristina ‘Kiki’ Mladenovic earned a convincing victory of Kirsten Flipkens in the women’s singles, closing the set 6-2 in 21 short minutes to the delight of the home fans. 

Mladenovic returned in the final set teaming up with Nestor against Flipkens and Herbert in a thrilling match that went down the wire with the Warriors taking it, 6 (7)-5 (3). 

The Mavericks will try to regain their position when they take on the Warriors on Friday at the start of the final leg of the tour in Singapore. 

The Slammers hope to solidify their hold of the second spot when they battle the Royals in the main match before an expected big home crowd.