IPTL Match 6 Review: Singapore Slammers vs Japan Warriors

Japan Warriors 23-27 Singapore Slammers

Jelena Jankovic 2-6 Kiki Bertens
Jean-Julien Rojer/Jelena Jankovic 6-5 Nick Kyrgios/Kiki Bertens
Marat Safin 1-6 Carlos Moya
Kei Nishikori/Fernando Verdasco 5-6 Marcelo Melo/Nick Kyrgios (Baghdatis in, Kyrgios out at 4-2)
Kei Nishikori 9-4 Nick Kyrgios

Photo by IPTL

 

Set 1 (Women’s Singles): Jankovic 2-6 Bertens

The set looked tight at the start, but Bertens went on fire from the 5^th game onwards. From 2-2, Bertens won 4 games in a row to clinch a perfect start for the Singapore Slammers. With this win, Bertens also got her first ever Women’s singles win in the IPTL.

Set 2: (Mixed Doubles): Rojer/Jankovic 6-5 Kyrgios/Bertens

The Slammers’ pair went up an early break to lead 2-1, but Kyrgios and Bertens broke back immediately to level the match. There was another exchange of breaks in the set before it proceeded to a tiebreak to decide its winner. Rojer and Jankovic dominated the tiebreak, winning it 7-2 to lessen the deficit to just 3 games.

Set 3 (Legend’s Singles): Safin 1-6 Moya

Moya continued his winning ways as he cruised to a 5-0 lead within a blink of an eye, after Safin looked out of sorts especially when he had an argument with the umpire. He managed to hold his serve to love at 0-5, but that was just a consolation game as Moya quickly served out the set 6-1 after just 20 minutes of play.

Set 4 (Men’s Doubles): Nishikori/Verdasco 5-6 Melo/Kyrgios (Baghdatis in, Kyrgios out at 4-2)

Things were going very well for the Slammers at the start after they managed to break immediately in the first game of the set. Leading 4-2, the Slammers decided to substitute Baghdatis in for Kyrgios. However, since that substitution, they lost 3 games in a row to give Nishikori and Verdasco a real chance of winning the set. Nevertheless, they maintained their composure and held their serve to send the set into a tiebreak. The tiebreak was equally as tight, with the score going to 6-6 and a sudden death, which means that whoever wins the first point wins the set. The Japan Warriors’ pairing was the favourite to take the set as Verdasco was serving, but Baghdatis came up with a good return to win the set for the Slammers.

Set 5 (Men’s Singles): Nishikori 9-4 Kyrgios

With both players being very solid on serve, a break of serve seems impossible. Nevertheless, the first real opportunity to break service was for Kyrgios at 2-3, having a 0-40 lead on Nishikori’s serve. Nishikori maintained his composure and used the support from the home crowd to hold his service there and let the set remain on serve. The next game saw Nishikori have the first break of service in the whole set, and allowed him to have a 4-3 lead and looked on-course for a victory which would see Warriors win 20 games coupled with a bonus point. Nishikori then broke serve again to win the set 6-3, and sent the tie into overtime. This win also clinched a bonus point for the Warriors as they have won 20 games in the tie. Nishikori broke once again and managed to extend his lead to 9-3. This time, Kyrgios managed to hold his service to finally win the match for the Singapore Slammers.