Ana Ivanovic and Gael Monfils led the way for Indian Aces as they edged out Manila Mavericks 26-25 in a thrilling encounter in the India leg of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in New Delhi, on Saturday.
A much bigger treat is in store for the fans at the Indian Gandhi Indoor Stadium on Sunday when the two legends -- 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and 14-major winner Pete Sampras -- make their much awaited India debut.
The night tie began with local favourites Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna taking on Kirsten Flipkens and Daniel Nestor in the mixed doubles but they ended up losing a close match against the Mavericks 5-6.
Indian Aces were put further on the back foot when retired Frenchman Cedric Pioline went down to Australia's Mark Philppousis 4-6.
Bopanna and Gael Monfils rallied Aces, as they got the better of Treat Huey and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-5 in an intense men's doubles match.
It was the turn of men's singles next with an exciting battle on cards between world number 18 Monfils and 12th-ranked Tsonga, which the latter won 6-4 to give Mavericks more breathing space.
With score in favour of the away team at 19-23, it was all down to Ana Ivanovic to rescue Aces. The Serbian World No. 5 did not disappoint, winning the set 6-2 against Flipkens to take the match into a super shootout with the scores tied at 25-25.
Monfils won the seven-minute shootout 10-7 over Tsonga to give the hosts a thrilling win.
Earlier, the UAE Royals thumped Singapore Slammers 29-16 in a one-sided affair.
In the first match earlier, World No. 9 Marin Cilic delighted the spectators with his power-packed game that made him the 2014 US Open champion.
He proved to be too good for Singapore's Lleyton Hewitt, the former World No. 1 who looked way past his prime.
The Croat fired aces after aces, racing to a 5-1 lead in the one-off set. Hewitt, known for his fighting spirit all these years, came back to make it 3-5 before Cilic secured the set on the deciding point after 40-40. There is no ad-scoring in this innovative format.
Cilic then partnered doubles specialist Nenad Zimonjic to beat the Australian combine of Nick Kyrgios and Hewitt 6-2. It was a tad surprising the team did not choose the younger Kyrgios to play the men's singles.
Next up was a fun match between two retired Grand Slam champions, UAE's Goran Ivanisevic taking on Patrick Rafter in the past champions singles.
Ivanisevic, 43, did not put a foot wrong against his equally famed opponent, to win the set 6-1. The Croat engaged with the crowd every time he served the trademark ace of his hey days.
The mixed doubles saw UAE's Zimonjic and Kristina Mladenovic getting past Daniela Hantuchova and Kyrgios 6-4.
The 63rd-ranked Hantuchova pulled off a consolation win for Singapore by surprising World No. 8 Caroline Wozniacki 6-5.
