New Delhi: Leander Paes' Japan Warriors frittered away a good start to go down 21-24 against Singapore Slammers in an International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) match here on Saturday.
This was the Warriors' sixth loss in seven matches, their only win coming against UAE Royals in the ongoing India Leg, which concludes today.
The Singapore Slammers did not make the best of starts with Carlos Moya going down 2-6 to Swedish veteran Thomas Enqvist. It was a disappointing performance by Moya, who was broken twice by Enqvist.
However, Kristina Pliskova and Dustin Brown pulled things back for the Slammers by upstaging Kirsten Flipkens and Indian veteran Paes 6-4.
The Indian, who had earlier complained about not being picked for the mixed-doubles clashes by his team, was visibly rattled by the loss and was seen engaged in an animated discussion with teammate Marat Safin, who warmed the bench for a third successive day.
Paes, however, made amends by teaming up with Philipp Kohlschreiber to defeat Marcelo Melo and Nick Kyrgios 6-4 in the men's doubles set. But prior to that, the Warriors had suffered a huge setback when Flipkens was outplayed 1-6 by Belinda Bencic in the women's singles.
At the end of the four matches, the Slammers held a slender one-point lead, placed at 18-17. It all boiled down to the men's singles clash between the temperamental Kyrgios and Kohlschreiber.
Kyrgios, the 20-year-old Australian showman who entertained both with his tennis and playful antics on the court, broke Kohlschreiber in the seventh game. However, erratic strokeplay cost Kyrgios the very next game and the set went into a shootout.
In the tie-breaker, Kyrgios relied on a powerful serve to close the issue in his favour.
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