In an anticlimactic result for the Indian Aces, which had topped the table coming into the final, the Indian team lost the champion’s crown to host Singapore Slammers, which prevailed 26-21, here on Sunday.
The Slammers claimed a prize purse of $ 1 million while Indian Aces got $ 500,000.
Indian Aces was easily the most dominant side this season, losing only three matches and winning 54.1 % of the games it played in its campaign.
Carlos Moya handed Slammers a two-point lead with his 6-4 win over Fabrice Santoro in the Legends’ singles.
Frenchman Santoro, the Indian Aces coach, had pulled out of the Dubai leg due to fever, but his return could not inspire a winning start for last year’s champions.
Belinda Bencic extended her team’s lead after she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 in a gruelling women’s singles that lasted 42 minutes.
The Indian Aces roared back with a 6-2 win in the mixed doubles as Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna teamed to beat Dustin Brown and Karolina Pliskova.
Stan Wawrinka then beat Bernard Tomic 6-3 in the men’s singles to help Slammers maintain a slight edge.
The men’s doubles, this season’s last set, turned into a title-deciding contest and it was Slammers’ Wawrinka and Marcelo Melo that prevailed 6-3 against Bopanna and Ivan Dodig to give Singapore a 26-21 win.
Ivan Dodig (Aces) was adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) (Male) while Slammers’ Belinda Bencic was adjudged the MVP (Female) for their superlative performances through the season. They got $ 50,000 each for the dominant tennis they played throughout the season.
IPTL founder and managing director Mahesh Bhupathi said: “It was a great final. Till yesterday we didn’t know who the two finalists would be, which is great. And to have finished it this way for Singapore Slammers, in front of a cheering home crowd, is terrific.”
“We got off to a great start last year, added another team in the second year, were broadcast in 155 countries across the world — so it speaks well for the success for the IPTL.
Published - December 21, 2015 12:24 am IST
