ANA Ivanovic defeated Maria Sharapova, 6-3, in the battle of crowd darlings during their women’s singles match in the International Premier Tennis League at the Mall of Asia Arena Saturday night.
Ivanovic’s win powered the Indian Aces to a 24-15 win over the Manila Mavericks.
The victory was one of four won by the Aces even as Filipino netter Treat Huey and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga provided the lone win for Manila in the tie.
Not even the charm and talent of Sharapova could pull the Mavericks to victory in her singles match as she fell behind 1-4.
She then double-faulted twice on the way to Ivanovic breaking her serve for the world No. 2’s second defeat in the tie.
Trailing 40-30 in the ninth game, the Aces successfully used the power point, an IPTL innovation where the winning player earn two points, clinch for Ivanovic the victory over the world No. 2
“I’ve been really happy on the court, playng with more fun. I have a great team around me supporting me,” said Ivanovic.
Andy Murray was also not as fortunate as the world No. 6 suffered his fourth straight setback in Manila when his partnership with Sharapova ended with a lopsided 6-1 loss against doubles specialists Bopanna and Sania Mirza.
Fabrice Santoro defeated Carlos Moya, 6-1, in the legends match for the Aces, but the Mavericks quickly answered back behind Huey and Tsonga who blanked Monfils and Bopanna, 6-0.
Monfils, however, bounced back from the men’s doubles defeat by beating Murray, 6-4, by breaking the world No. 6’s serve thrice en route to a comeback from 1-3 down.
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