Champions Tennis League: Hingis, Karlovic star in Nagpur Orangers’ win over Hyderabad Aces

Hyderabad: The Nagpur Orangers beat Hyderabad Aces 22-20 in a Champions Tennis League (CTL) clash on Sunday, which included an exciting Women’s Singles contest between Swiss legend Martina Hingis and Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, at the Sports Authority of Telangana State stadium in Hyderabad.

In a match of five sets where the winner is decided by the total number of games, Nagpur managed to put up 22 points against the 20 of the host side.

The five-setter saw Legends Singles, Women’s Singles, Mixed Doubles, Men’s Doubles and Men’s Singles account for a set apiece

The host side won the first set of Legend’s Singles comfortably with Thomas Johansson of Hyderabad defeating Nagpur’s Alex Corretja 5-3.

Though it initially appeared to be a contest between equals, Johansson prevailed over his rival in the end.

The keenly-fought set of the day was between the two former world number one players, Martina Hingis for Hyderabad and Jelena Jankovic for Nagpur.

Though the Swiss appeared to be dominating the game initially, the gritty Serbian succeeded in clinching the game with a 5-3.

The long rallies between Hingis and Jankovic enthralled the spectators and they cheered the Swiss legend who has given up singles.

The mixed doubles set beween Ivo Karlovic and Martina Hingis of Hyderabad and Nagpur’s Feliciano Lopez and Jelena Jankovic was a tight contest with both sides putting up a stiff fight.

The two sides equalled the score at 4-4 but the Hyderabad’s Hingis and Karlovic pulled off a 5-4 victory to give an edge of one point.

The overall score after the set was 13-12.

The Men’s Doubles set between Ivo Karlovic and Jeevan Neduncheziyan (India) and Feliciano Lopez and Divij Sharan was equally good.

However, Nagpur’s players gave their side a slender edge of one point with a 5-3 win as the overall points stood at 17-16.

With both sides engaged in a neck-and-neck competition, the result depended on the final set of the day, the Men’s Singles between Ivo Karlovic of Hyderabad and Feliciano Lopez of Nagpur.

Raising suspense on the outcome of the match, Karlovic and Lopez equalled the score at 4-4, resulting in a tie-breaker.

Lopez had the last laugh as he managed to seal the match in his favour with a 5-4 score.

PTI