IPTL 2015: Sania-Bopanna's Indian Aces outplayed by Singapore Slammers, to face each other in Final

Singapore: Intensive competition was on display at day two of the Coca-Cola IPTL 2015 here in Singapore. Table-toppers Micromax Indian Aces took on the home team in a battle that would decide which one makes the second spot, between the Slammers and Obi UAE Royals. It was a packed Singapore Indoor Stadium, the crowds clearly enjoying the atmosphere and the spirit of competition.

Both teams got on the court, all guns blazing! Ultimately it was home team that capitalised on the huge home crowd support to win the match 27-21, booking the second spot on the leader board, with an eye on the glistening trophy and USD 1million prize money!

Match Summary:

- Player coach Fabrice Santoro back on the court after a brief hiatus, having missed the last two games in Dubai. Combined with Moya, the crowds got to see some magical tennis, sublime slices that simply skid over the net! But coming from illness is not easy, and it showed on Santoro, as Moya hammered away 5 aces, winning the set 6-2

- IPTL-debutant Wawrinka took on Bernard Tomic in the men’s singles, the second set of the evening. The home crowds clearly backing their star, who won the set in a terrific shoot-out for the home crowds, giving the Slammers a great lead

- Fired on by the great lead, Belinda Bencic caused more damage to the Aces, hammering IPTL-debutant Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 to win the third set, confirming a spot in the finals for her team by this team

- Mixed doubles saw some terrific footwork from Pliskova/Brown, the crowds now vocally rallying behind their home team. The game evenly paced at 3 games each, before the Mirza/Bopanna took it away with 6-4 win for the Aces

- Men’s doubles saw more tennis with Melo/Brown putting on a superb display of clever shot-making and nimble footworkmatched evenly and equally by Dodig/Bopanna, ultimately winning the set in a shoot-out that went all the way to the wire tied 5-all, with the Aces winning the deciding point!

What the Players said:

Captain of the team, Carlos Moya: “All the matches are very important. Since every game counts, there is not a priority. We want to try and win all of them."

Belinda Bencic: "We have showed throughout the three weeks that we are capable of being in the final and I think we deserve it. Today we knew we needed to win a few games and then we enjoyed it and I think it was good practice and we are ready for tomorrow."

Nick Krygios: "We didn't hold anything back, both teams played hard. We both knew that we'd be playing in the finals tomorrow so we are both going to be ready for tomorrow. We are going to rest up and go after it tomorrow." He added, “Carlos gets us off to a good start every time. The last couple of times he has played Santoro he has done pretty well. We know that they're the top team. We get prepared and everyone sort of lifts a little bit when we play them so I don't expect anything different tomorrow. I know the rest of the team is going to be on the bench cheering and bringing all the energy."

Rohan Bopanna: “It was a great match today, we had a lot of fun out there. We’re the defending champions, and we are going to go out there and win it for the team!”

Ivan Dodig: “That was some terrific tennis that we played today, and we hope to be able to play some better tennis tomorrow for all the fans in the finals tomorrow.”

Match Scores: