Hyderabad: The inaugural edition of the Champions Tennis League got off to an exciting start yesterday with Mark Phillippoussis of Hyderabad Aces defeating Bangalore Raptors' Thomas Enqvist in the first match of the five-set tie.
Phillippoussis, the seasoned player from Australia beat Enqvist from Sweden, 5-5 (5-2) in the Legends category of the match held at the Lal Bahadur Stadium.
Enqvist dominated the game initially with a score of 5-2, but Phillippoussis fought back into the game and made it 5-5 as the proceedings progressed.
It was fine tennis on display as the two seasoned players fought on the court to gain the upper hand.
However, Phillippoussis, who was known to have one of the fastest serves in the game, demonstrated his remarkable skill to prevail over his opponent.
Phillippoussis (38) was among the top-10 players in the world during his glory days.
Enqvist, who was ranked as high as World Number four in the ATP rankings, had creditable wins over stars of the game like Pete Sampras and Andy Roddick.