Indian Aces continued their impressive run in the inaugural International Premier Tennis League with a commanding 30-11 win over UAE Royals on day one of the Singapore leg here today.
It was the fourth win for Aces in as many games in the competition that began last week in Manila.
The match started with the women's singles which saw World No. 5 Ana Ivanovic triumph over Kristina Mladenovic 6-2
The mixed doubles gave the crowd its first 5-5 tie-break, with the experienced pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza prevailing over Kladenovic and Nenad Zimonjic in the five-minute shoot out to claim the set 6-5.
Next up was men's singles in which flamboyant Frenchman Gael Monfils outplayed reigning US Open Champion Marin Cilic 6-1.
In the Past Champions match, Fabrice Santoro overcame a struggling Goran Ivanisevic. The former Wimbledon champion was nursing a hamstring strain before being subbed out by Zimonjic but it wasn't enough to stop the dominance of Santoro, who closed the set at 6-2.
The final contest was the men's doubles which saw Bopanna and Monfils defeat a dispirited Cilic and Zimonjic 6-1.
Aces add a further four points to their tally while Royals will take some consolation from a single bonus point for winning more than 10 games.
On the IPTL experience Cilic said: "So far I think the format is very interesting, everyone was talking about it from the start, I think it shows the team atmosphere and the team spirit brings the most wins and results.
"It's definitely exciting for the fans to interact with the players and see different things than they are used to. For players it's different, you have to be into the matches more than usual, emotionally and as a team."
He added: "For me it was great to interact with my teammates, we've built good relations over the last six or seven days.
"It's a competitive event, and I think all the teams are very competitive, we've seen in Manila that the Singapore team has the biggest bench. They didn't do very well over there and they are a little bit sad about it, it makes it really competitive because nobody likes to lose," said Cilic.
Frenchman Monfils also gave his views on the initiative taken by former player Mahesh Bhupathi.
"For me I think it's good, it's fun and serious at the same time, and it's serious because we play four legs, but that's cool," he said.
