It was quite a show by some of the best international tennis players — both current and former. Ignoring all the distractions around the court, the players gave spectators a wonderful evening to enjoy. Barring the intensity of a Grand Slam or any other big ATP event, the class and skills they displayed at the make-shift indoor courts of the Indira Gandhi Stadium on Saturday were of top quality.
For the first time, Indian public got the taste of international tennis stars and it was an instant hit. Though played in a new format, it was entertaining, if not thrilling even without the real showstopper – Roger Federer – entering the court. Federer will play on Sunday and Monday.
International Premier Tennis league (IPTl) organiser Mahesh Bhupathi must be a happy man, considering the buoyant public response to his longtime dream, on Day 1. It is proving to be a smart decision to take the stars of the game to tennis-deprived and untapped regions of Asia, particularly India.
The short format may not satisfy the hardcore tennis fans but they should be happy to see the legends playing in front of them; players who they have interacted only through live television thus far.
Take former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic and two-time US Open winner Patrick Rafter. They brought back memories of the 2001 Wimbledon Final where the two wrestled for five sets to decide the title before Ivanisevic edged out Rafter in the final set 9-7. The left-handed Croat had then become the first wild card to win a major.
On this Saturday, however, neither Ivanisevic was serving his best nor Rafter was in prime shape. And, the competition wasn’t even close to that epic Final. But those with a keen eye could still spot the coldness of old times between the two. The subtle tension made way for some fun only after Ivanisevic took a 4-0 lead and started entertaining the spectators. He won the match 6-1 to put UAE Royals virtually beyond Singapore Slammers’ reach.
“It is a great crowd out here and I hear that it is going to be even better in the coming days! I’m happy that I was 5 – 0 against Pat at one stage and won later,” Ivanisevic said after the match. Before him, the current US Open champion Marin Cilic of Royals beat former Wimbledon and US Open leyton Hewitt of Slammers 6-3 to set the tone for his team. Cilic was then joined by Nenad Zimonjic for the men’s doubles and they beat the all-Australian pair of Nick Kyrgios and Hewitt 6-2.
Royals pair of ZImonjic and Kristina Mladenovic added another victory in the mixed doubles with a 6-4 win over Slammers’ Kyrgios and Daniela Huntuchova.
Huntuchova, however, managed to won one set for Slammers when she beat world No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki 6-5 in the women’s singles. In the end, Royals won the tie 29-16. The IPTl may be short and crisp but it hasn’t completely lost the character of producing dramatic contests.
In the second tie of the day, Indian Aces turned the table on Manila Mavericks when world No. 5 Anna Ivanovic beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-2 to take the match into the super shoot-out by leveling the score at 25-25. Gael Monfils, who lost the men’s singles returned the favour in style and beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 10-7 to give Indian Aces their fifth win (26-25) in seven ties.
After registering an unlikely win, the Indian Aces team members treated the home crowd with a dance number. Monfils led the team to the centre of the court and all of them shook legs on a song from Shah Rukh Khan starrer Happy Ending.
Apart from the short format and fast-paced tennis, the IPTl has shown some similarities with the Indian Premier league (IPl). With cheer-leaders dancing to loud music in between the breaks, IPTl seemed to have taken some inspiration from the successful twenty20 league as it mixed tennis with entertainment. Whether tennis needed these additions or not is open to debate.