ANDY MURRAY ONCE again was instrumental in helping the Singapore Slammers win their final tie of the Dubai leg of International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) against the Indian Aces (27-16) yesterday.
The Slammers have won both their games in Dubai to remain at the second position in the points table and going into the final leg in Singapore have given themselves a great chance of qualifying for the finals.
On the other hand, the Indian Aces suffered their first defeat in six matches and were badly missing their cornerstone, Fabrice Santoro. The Aces’ camp will be hoping for their captain to get back to full fitness going ahead.
For the Slammers, match winner Murray will be leaving their camp, but Stan Wawrinka is slated to join them in Singapore.
First up, the Indian Aces had to concede a lead of 6 games to the Slammers. (As per the rules: in an event of a legend player withdrawing from a set for whatever reason, there is no substitution allowed and the team will lose all six games).
Trailing by a huge deficit, Aces Agnieszka Radwanksa had a huge responsibility to narrow the lead. And, the Polish player came up with some clinical tennis to dismiss Slammers’ Belinda Bencic 6-3.
The mixed doubles saw Mirza start off with Ivan Dodig but switched to her regular mixed doubles partner, Rohan Bopanna during play. The duo fought valiantly, but Pliskova/Brown took it down to the wire, winning the shoot-out, and taking the set away 6-5.
Men’s doubles saw superb shot-making from Murray/Melo as they took on Dodig/Bopanna. While the Slammers’ pair came up with some clever shot-making, quick footwork and coordination proved to be the Aces’ experienced duo didn’t hit their top range and made some uncharacteristic errors. In the end, one break of serve was all that Murray/Melo needed to close it out 6-4.
The men’s doubles had some fiercely competitive tennis from Murray. The Brit remained clinical and produced some incredible winners off both flanks to keep Tomic at bay.
Murray’s brilliance forced his bench for a standing ovation. With the set in the bag, the Slammers brought in Kyrgios for the last few points and nailed the set with ease 6-1.
Speaking on his successful stint with the Slammers, Murray said,
“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.”
Team-mates Dustin Brown and Nick Kyrgios too showered rich praises on the Brit. Brown said,
“It’s been great having Andy here the last two days, he’s helped us a lot obviously in trying to secure the second slot and get closer to the Aces. It was great to have him here, he played some unbelievable tennis, as usual, and makes us laugh the whole time!
Kyrgios too echoed similar thoughts,
“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. It’s been so much fun. And personally, these are going to be my favourite two days. The atmosphere and the whole team just came together, and Andy fit right in!”