THE Singapore Slammers cruised past the Japan Warriors, 29-20, to kick off the second leg of the International Premier Tennis League Season 2 on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Slammers built an early lead and wound up winning all but one of the five sets to score the victory that increased their overall record to an even 97-97 after a win and two losses in the first leg in Japan.
The Slammers and Warriros split their first two sets with Carlos Moya beating Marat Safin, 6-4, in the legends, then Leander Paes and Pierre Herbert edging the pair of Dustin Brown and Marcelo Melo, 6-5, in the men’s doubles.
The Slammers, though, took the last three sets – Belinda Bencic outclassing Kurumi Nara and her substitute, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, 6-2, in the women’s singles, Nick Kyrgios outlasting Philip Kohlschreiber, 6-5, in the men’s singles, before Kyrgios/Bencic defeated Lucic/Paes, 6-3, in the mixed doubles.
Kyrgis, who finished third-runner-up in this year’s French Open, took the spotlight in his second visit to Manila.
“I just want to do everything to give my team the best chance of winning,” said the 20-year-old Australian netter, who looked slimmer than he was during his IPTL stint last year.
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