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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Slammers stamp class

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RISING star Belinda Bencic made short work of Mirjana Lucic Baroni, 6-3, in the women’s singles, then partnered with Nick Kyrgios in the mixed doubles as the Singapore Slammers opened their campaign with a resounding 29-20 victory over the Japan Warriors Sunday night in the Manila leg of the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League at the Mall of Asia Arena.

With a splendid accomplishment in the world juniors’ tucked under her belt, Bencic played smart tennis and Baroni could do nothing to thwart her. 

After getting ahead at 4-2, Bencic easily took the last two games to push the Slammers comfortably ahead at 17-12.

Belinda Bencic of the Singapore Slammers returns the ball to Kurumi Nara of Team Legendari Japan Warriors during the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League at MOA Arena. LINO SANTOS

The 19-year-old Swiss netter won the juniors’ titles at the French Open and Wimbledon. She was the youngest netter to have ever reached the US Open quarterfinals in 2014, matching the feat achieved by compatriot Martina Hingis in 1997.

Tipped to become the next female tennis superstar, Bencic caused upsets in last year’s Rogers Cup, beating the likes of Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Caroline Wozniacki.

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Kyrgios boosted the stock of Singapore (23-17) going into the final set following a close 6-5 set win over Philipp Kohlschreiber in the men’s singles.

He returned to the court in tandem with Bencic to complete the day’s job for Singapore with a 6-3 demolition of Japan Warriors’ Mirjan Lucic and Leander Paes in the mixed doubles.

Earlier in the day, Carlos Moya gave the Slammers the lead following a 6-4 victory over Marat Safan in the men’s Legends singles.

The Japan Warriors made a slight reversal as rising French star Pierre-Hugues Herbert played big with partner Paes in scoring a close 6-5 (7-6) victory over the tandem of Dustin Brown and Marcelo Melo of the Slammers.

Herbert, the 2015 US Open doubles’ champion with Nicolas Mahut, used his favorite backhand volleys all night, giving problems to the Slammers’ pair. His forehand completed the job in the set, even though the Warriors stole the lead at 11-10 after two.

The Obi UAE Royals lead the five-leg tournament after winning two games in the first leg in Kobe, Japan with 61.54 points.  

At second are the Indian Aces with 53.06 after winning two games, but giving away 46 sets and gaining 52.

The Royals were to meet Philippine Mavericks as of press time late Sunday night. Going into the game, the Mavericks are in third place with 50.98.

 The IPTL is a unique, world-class tennis tournament that puts together the current world champions, legends and the rising stars of the sport. Players are selected to represent different cities and countries. Four teams played in the inaugural season, with the Indian Aces installing itself as the first team champion.

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