INDIAN ACES WIN IPTL, BUT “EVERYONE IS HAPPY” WITH LEAGUE’S FIRST SEASON BY RICKY DIMON

The Micromax Indian Aces, whose team included Roger Federer for a two-match stretch in New Delhi, clinched the first-ever IPTL title on Friday night. Combined with the UAE Royals’ 23-21 loss to the last-place Singapore Slammers, the Aces’ 28-23 win over the Manila Mavericks was enough to guarantee first place.

 

It was a good thing the Indian team went ahead and got the job done, too, because the league’s final match on Saturday in Dubai saw the Aces go down emphatically, 29-15, to the Royals.

 

Novak Djokovic dominated each of his two sets, pairing up with Nenad Zimonjic to prevail 6-2 in men’s doubles before blanking Gael Monfils 6-0 in men’s singles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite the loss, the Aces finished with an overall record of 8-4–good for 39 total points. Team UAE came in second with 37 points, two ahead of the Manila Mavericks’ 35 while Singapore was a distant fourth with 24 points.

 

Thus concluded a successful first season of the IPTL

 

“Everyone is happy,” managing director Mahesh Bhupathi assured. “The players have embraced it; a lot of them who have played the whole season have been able to bond with players with whom they normally wouldn’t because tennis is such an individual sport. All in all, everyone is happy with the first season, so we’re off to a good start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The way the players have accepted and competed is probably one of the biggest highlights for me. The second is obviously Novak’s match with Roger in Delhi. The quality of tennis (in) that one set has never been seen in my country before. We had 16,000 people in there; the atmosphere was amazing and personally being an Indian, for me that was a very proud moment.”

 

“I definitely enjoyed the whole experience very much,” Djokovic added. “The league gave me this opportunity to be next to legends of this sport and next to my fellow colleagues, and [allowed] me to feel this team spirit that I usually don’t have on the tour.

 

“It’s definitely been a success.”

 

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Dubai, Indian Aces, IPTL, Mahesh Bhupathi, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Tennis, UAE Royals

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