A packed house at the Kobe World Hall, full of families and children, and tennis fans greeted the fast-paced format with loud cheers as the Royals won 26-20.
Ana Ivanovic won the women's singles 6-3 over Belinda Bencic to give the Royals a winning start.
Next up in the men's singles, the power-packed shot making of Tomas Berdych and Nick Kyrgios was a hit with the crowd. Kyrgios won convincingly (6-2) for the Slammers, the only set his team won during the evening.
The combine of Kristina Mladenovic and Nestor and Goran Ivanisevic showed their class by taking the last two sets -- mixed doubles and men's legends singles respectively -- with relative ease, giving the Royals a terrific start in season 2 of the IPTL, winning 26 games to 20.
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His side lost the match today but Kyrgios was upbeat to be in the second season of the IPTL.
"I love IPTL, it's a great format, its shows what tennis can be. I personally love playing in a team environment, I used to play basketball as a kid, so I love have team-mates around.
On IPTL's Japan debut, Kyrgios added, "I love Japan, my sister lives here, I love the culture, the food. Absolute loving it here right now.