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IPTL 2014, SINGAPORE - TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER IP: 203.116.177.151 Posted on December 2, 2014 at 08:11:19 PM by David Barnes
IPTL 2014 - SINGAPORE
TUESDAY 2 DECEMBER
The contrast between Manila and Singapore, as capital cities and [non-]evolving civic entities, could not be more pronounced, in almost every respect. In the former, despite the politeness of the players when they were quizzed about it, and the presence of a police motorcycle escort when they needed it, all seems to be ear-splitting randomised chaos, mayhem and regular traffic gridlock. In the latter everything works like clockwork - of course. The Philippine newspapers this morning followed up on a recent Wall Street Journal article by Trefor Moss about the Vice-President of the country, Jejomar Binay, who, when Mayor of Makati City (the most central and arguably most important of Manila's 'cities'), allegedly carried on many of the dubious financial practices for which the Philippine presidency has been infamous over the years; his supposed specialities involving overpriced tenders, bid-rigging and backhanders over a Makati City Hall building project.
The WSJ's angle was that Filipinos are so inured to scandals of this kind that they sit back and do nothing (assuming they are not involved), leading to a political culture of graft and corruption that nothing is ever likely to change, whoever is in charge. It is hard to argue with this viewpoint, although plenty of vested interests are queuing up to do so. Alongside the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) system in Singapore are signs reading 'Value Life, Act Responsibly', and you just know that you would not be reading a similar article about Singapore politics (although, as the International Herald Tribune discovered to its cost in 2010, the former founding Prime Minister of the ex-colony can be very touchy when it comes to his whiter-than-white legacy; furthermore one or two corruption scandals involving other [more minor] public officials have surfaced over the last year or two).
The players flew from Manila to Singapore by chartered jet yesterday, and were almost more numerous than the spectators a few minutes before play started here at 4pm (the evening sessions, which start at 7.30, were generally more crowded in Manila, and the same will be true here, based on what we saw tonight when the audience swelled to very respectable numbers; a daily ticket buys you admission to both, so there is less compulsion to arrive right 'on time'). The Singapore Indoor Stadium holds around 10,000 spectators, compared to Manila's Mall of Asia which can accommodate more than 13,000, so the venue here should logically have appeared fuller, with more or less equal numbers in the crowd.
The afternoon session featured the UAE Royals (pity the poor umpire, who now has to call them 'the musafir.com UAE Royals', which is one hell of a mouthful, even with a microphone) taking on the Micromax Indian Aces (which at least slips off the tongue marginally more easily). Ana Ivanovic, for the Aces, easily disposed of Kristina Mladenovic for the musafir.coms, 6-2. Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza eventually got the better of Nenad Zimonjic and Kristina Mladenovic, partly because of Bopanna's sustained brilliance throughout the set, partly because of an astute 'happiness power point' play by the Aces player/coach Fabrice Santoro at 5-5 in the five-minute shoot-out period.
Gael Monfils overpowered Malek Jaziri, as was predictable, in their singles match, 6-1, and Fabrice Santoro got the better of both Goran Ivanisevic and Nenad Zimonjic in the other mens singles, 6-2 (remember that injured players can be substituted, and old-timers like the Croat, as was the case with Carlos Moya in Manila, are vulnerable to the strains and stresses of intense competition). The Indian Aces completed their rout of the musafirs when Bopanna and Monfils tore into Zimonjic and Cilic (Ivanisevic taking no further part, post-injury - the problem being his right hamstring) and musafired them 6-1. At the end of the afternoon session the Aces were on top of the leaderboard with sixteen points, followed by the Royals with eleven, the Mavericks with seven, and the Slammers, disappointingly for the newly acquired home crowd, and for a team with more players than any of the other three, bringing up the rear with a meagre four. The two trailing teams, the Singapore Slammers and the Manila Mavericks, the latter with new coach/captain Carlos Moya, played each other in the later session.
It was an inspired move to schedule the Andre Agassi v Mark Philippoussis 'set' first this evening, although in the event Agassi, having arrived only yesterday to play for the Slammers, found it hard to adjust to the conditions, while the Australian continued the form he showed in Manila, overpowering the American 6-2. Agassi's contribution to the evening was not complete, however, as he donned a pair of headphones court-side and conducted a wide-ranging interview for TV, with all the humour and perspective and gravitas that his years in the sport, and a voice like silk-embossed sandpaper, have given him.
Tsonga, who was also magnificent in Manila, partnered Treat Huey (freshly released from coaching duties to concentrate on playing) against what should have been a winning combination of Lleyton Hewitt and Tomas Berdych, but the chemistry was missing from the latter's performance, and when big Jo-Wilfried stepped up to serve for the set at 5-4 there was only going to be one outcome. Berdych was similarly dominant on serve, at least initially, in his set against Tsonga, "looking good at the back as well", as coach Josh Eagle remarked during the changeover when he was 5-2 up. He served for the set at 5-3, the Mavericks have shrewdly called a time-out to avoid the Frenchman being penalised for not being ready to serve. A double fault at 30-15 all but spelled disaster, especially as he followed it with a dreadful backhand into the net after the longest rally of the night, and then Berdych threw the game away with another error, thus letting Jo-Wilfried back into the set.
Tsonga made it to the shoot-out at 5-5; Berdych, since Manila semi-bearded and with hair cropped, made rather a mess of the shoot-out just as he has done with his closely tonsured features, forehands and backhand volley spraying perversely wide. His coach played the 'happiness power point' at 3-5 which saw Tsonga double fault and rescued Berdych's pride somewhat, but time ran out at 9-5 to the Mavericks. Another Maverick victory. Golly, they are tenacious, these Pinoys . . . as they proved when Kirsten Flipkens and Daniel Nestor took on Serena Williams and Nick Kyrgios, and came from a break down to win 6-3, hitting fifteen winners to their opponents' nine, and making only five unforced errors, compared with nine on the other side of the net.
The last set on court this evening saw Serena Williams play Kirsten Flipkens, the number one-ranked player against the 45th (at season's end 2014). The Belgian secured an early break of serve, but Williams fought back and started to draw errors from the Belgian's racket, taking the set. Despite her single victory here, the Mavericks ran out 29 to 21 overall on the evening, and move into second place behind the Indian Aces.
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