Nagpur side ace hosts Hyderabad in Champions Tennis League match
Martina Hingis and Ivo Karlovic of the Hyderabad Aces celebrate winning a point against the Nagpur Orangers' Jelena Jankovic and Feliciano Lopez during their mixed doubles Champions Tennis League match in Hyderabad on Saturday. (Photo: Deepak
Hyderabad: The Nagpur Orangers came, they saw and they conquered. Led by veteran Spaniard Alex Corretja and former women’s World No.1 Jelena Jankovic, the Orangers showed tremendous discipline under pressure to eke out a 22-20 victory over the Hyderabad Aces in their Champions Tennis League match at the Lal Bahadur Stadium in the city on Sunday.
Hyderabad won the opening Legends set when Thomas Johansson beat Corretja but Nagpur hit back through Jankovic in women’s singles. Hyderabad then took a slim one-point lead at 13-12 through Martina Hingis and Ivo Karlovic in the third set. But the Felicano Lopez and Divij Sharan won the men’s doubles before Lopez downed Karlovic to seal a second straight win for Nagpur.
Aces captain Johansson beat Corretja 5-3 in the opening set, but much to the crowd’s disappointment, Hyderabad star player Martina Hingis lost 3-5 to Jankovic. She made amends right after, pairing up with the big-serving Croatian giant Karlovic to edge past Jankovic-Lopez to hand the hosts a razor-thin 13-12 lead.
However, Lopez-Divij beat Karlovic-Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan 5-3 and then, Lopez edged past Karlovic 5-4 in the deciding set. On Saturday, a carnival-like atmosphere had descended on the Centre Court at the SATS Tennis Complex at Lal Bahadur Stadium, with the crowd’s collective groans and cheers peppering the on-court back-and-forth between the players.
A curiously error-prone Hingis, despite a 2-0 lead — including a break of serve — proved no match for the Serbian former World No.1. Hingis, serving first, held off Jankovic to take the first game. She then charged into a 2-0 lead after breaking the Serbian’s serve.
Jankovic returned the favour immediately, breaking Hingis’ serve to make it 2-1. From there, the set proceeded in a see-saw fashion until 3-3, when Jankovic broke Hingis again to go up 4-3 and then served out the set.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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