Aces unbeatable in IPTL Manila leg; Serena loses

MANILA, Philippines - The Indian Aces brought down the UAE Royals last night to stay undefeated and on top of the Manila leg of the International Premier Tennis League at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The Aces beat the Royals with just enough to spare, 28-20, and ended up dancing and bouncing up and down the court on the third and last day of this fun-filled event.

Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza broke the ice for the Aces when they turned back Nenad Zimonjic and Kristina Mladenovic in the mixed doubles, 6-3.

Bopanna and Gael Monfils then teamed up to beat Zimonjic and Marin Cilic in the men’s doubles, 6-4. Monfils rode the momentum of that win to outplay Cilic, 6-3.

Fabrice Santoro capped the Aces’ dominance of the Manila leg scoring a 6-4 win over Goran Ivanisevic, who did a little better entertaining the crowd with his court antics.

“I have great players in my team,” said Santoro, the Aces’ playing coach.

Serena Williams fields questions from media after arriving yesterday in time for last night’s International Premier Tennis League match. JOEY MENDOZA

The Royals posted their only win for the day courtesy of Mladenovic, who broke the hearts of many Pinoy fans by turning back crowd favorite Ana Ivanovic, 6-4.

The Aces overpowered the Singapore Slammers last Friday, 26-16, and showed their intent to win the $1 million prize by stunning the Manila Mavericks the other night, 24-15.

In the nightcap, the Manila Mavericks came out with a bang, prevailing over the Singapore Slammers, 27-19, and spoiling Serena Williams’ playing debut on Philippine soil.

Andy Murray needed an extra five minutes to beat Nick Kyrgios in a shootout in the final set of the evening. The Mavericks won four of the five sets against the Slammers.

“It’s a great way to end the week,” said Murray, who had the entire MOA Arena rooting for him in his exciting duel with the 19-year-old Kyrgios.

The leaderboard showed the Aces on top with 12 points, followed by the Royals with 10, the Mavericks with seven and the Slammers with four.

From Manila, the inaugural IPTL event moves to Singapore from Dec. 2 to 4, New Delhi from Dec. 6 to 8 and Dubai from Dec. 11 to 13.

The team with the most number of points after the four legs wins $1 million.

Mladenovic, 21 years old and standing a shade over six feet, showed a better all-around game to post her second straight win after an opening-day loss.

The five-year pro, who grew up with her father playing handball and her mother playing volleyball, lost to Sharapova last Friday.

But she bounced back strong by beating Daniela Hantuchova the other day, and this time Ivanovic, who lost her final match but left the court smiling as well.

To many of her Pinoy fans, that’s all that matters.