IPTL: UAE Royals bank on Federer magic to edge past Singapore Slammers

Singapore: Japan Warriors did not have to break much sweat in getting past Philippine Mavericks 29-15 but it was a tough day out for UAE Royals, who edged out hosts Singapore Slammers 27-23 in their IPTL match, riding on Roger Federer’s win in the deciding men’s singles in Singapore Friday. In the first encounter of the day, Warriors put up a splendid show as Marat Safin brought alive memories of his legendary past by winning the legends singles 6-3 against James Blake. Japanese Kurumi Nara was the cynosure of all eyes as she handed a crushing 6-1 defeat to Jarmila Gajdosova. [caption id=“attachment_2423500” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Roger Federer in action. AFP[/caption] Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Leander Paes then came out and thrashed Gajdosova and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-2. In the men’s doubles, Roger-Vasselin and Treat Huey stepped it up for the Mavericks by edging out Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Paes 6-5. In the men’s singles Herbert took the set away 6-3 for the Warriors against big-serving Ivo Karlovic. The second contest of the day produced interesing battle between the hosts and Roger Federer-led UAE Royals. The Swiss great won the deciding men’s singles 6-4 against compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka. UAE had a narrow 2-point lead when the last match of the day began and Federer did not let his team down even as Wawrinka put up a great fight. Before that, Goran Ivanisevic faced stiff resistance from home team’s Carlos Moya before prevailing 6-4. Kristina Mladenovic won the women’s singles against Karolina Pliskova via shootout to give Royals 3-point lead. That was evened out by mixed doubles pair of Dustin Brown and Pliskova when they beat Federer and Madenovic. The scores were now 15-15. Federer and Daniel Nestor again handed Royals a two point lead when they beat Wawrinka and Marcelo Melo 6-4. It all boiled down to men’s singles and Royals had last laugh with Federer winning the crucial tie. PTI