New Delhi: The second match on the final day of the Indian leg of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) was probably best we have seen of the tournament so far.
There was plenty on offer as we saw a world class encounter between World No. 2 Roger Federer and World No. 1 Novak Djokovic here at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium which matched the intensity of any Grand Slam match or a big WTA event.
We saw Roger Federer playing probably the shot of the league when he hit an over-the-head backhand winner in the shoot-out against Djokovic after making it 5-5. We also saw Goran Ivanesevic throwing his racquet after he lost two back to back games against Bruno Soares and we saw Federer shoulder-bumping Gael Monflis after the French scored a winner against the pair of Marin Cilic and Nenad Zimonic in the Men's Doubles match.
Federer might find it difficult to remember all the rules in the 'crazy' IPTL, but what he has find very easy so far is winning the sets for his team, Indian Aces. After winning all three sets on his opening day in the IPTL on Sunday, Federer continued his good form to defeat Djokovic 6-5 as the UAE Royals defeated the Indian Aces 29-22.
Roger looked rusty at the start when he was playing in the men's doubles but once he got his rhythm back he was exceptional at the nets and scored some brilliant winners. Djokovic came in to replace Cilic in the eighth game of the men's doubles and gave good fight to the Indian Aces.
The set was tied at 5-5 and the match went down to the shoot-out. Federer/Monflis, after trailing 3-6, came back and won the set 6-5 to keep the Aces alive in the match. Federer hit some unbelievable winners from the nets and received a huge cheer from the crowd.
The Federer vs Djokovic match started with huge expectations from the fans. And both the world class players didn't disappoint. Federer and Djokovic won their opening games on serves before the Serb broke Federer in the third game to take an early advantage in the set. He held on to his serve in the next game as Federer also won the game on his serve. The Swiss then came back from trailing 0-40 to win the seventh game and he hit three aces to win the ninth game.
Federer won the shoot-out 6-5 and the set 6-6 as the UAE Royals won the match while the Indian Aces maintained their lead at the top of the table with 30 points.
Earlier, UAE won the mixed doubles match 6-2 after Rohan Bopanna was replaced by Federer to partner with Sania Mirza for the last three games of the set.
During the break after the first match, Bollywood's famous stars Aamir Khan, Deepika Padukone, Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh joined Federer on the court to try some luck in tennis during an exhibition match.
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