Dubai: The Indian Aces held off the Singapore Slammers to win their International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) clash 28-24 to extend their lead at the top of the standings on the first day of the Dubai leg of the tournament here Thursday.
The Aces have 34 points from 10 matches while Slammers are at the bottom with only 19 from as many matches.
The Aces easily wrapped up the first four sets of the tie but Thomas Berdych made a match out of the fifth and final set to make it an enthralling contest.
Trailing 24-16 going into the final set, Berdych first earned the Slammers a maiden win of the day, beating Monfils 6-3.
This forced a 'super shoot-out' in which Berdych was afforded the opportunity to play as many games as necessary to close the score deficit until Monfils won a game.
The Slammers' World No.7 closed the deficit to only two games but Monfils claimed the fourth game to secure the contest in his team's favour.
Earlier in the match, Aces' Ana Ivanovic beat Daniela Hantuchova 6-5 in the opener.
Fabrice Santoro edged Pat Rafter 6-3 in the legends set.
Aces continued their domination, winning both the doubles matches.
Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza beat Bruno Soares and Hantuchova 6-5 before Monfils and Bopanna beat Lleyton Hewitt and Soares 6-3.
