OMNISPORT

Rafael Nadal beat old foe Roger Federer twice on a perfect final day on home soil for International Premier Tennis League leaders Indian Aces which saw them win all five sets in their encounter with second-placed UAE Royals.

The eagerly awaited singles encounter between Nadal and Federer was the final match of the three days of action in New Delhi after they did battle in the doubles and the legendary duo did not disappoint.

Nadal this week stated he is unsure if he will add to his tally of 14 grand slams after losing his way this year following injury problems, but the Spaniard claimed a morale-boosting 6-5 (7-5) victory over the Swiss master to complete a 30-19 victory on home soil.

The Indians have now won six of their seven matches and a capacity crowd was treated to a dramatic finale, with Nadal unable to serve out the match when leading 5-3, but eventually sealing victory in a shootout.

Agnieszka Radwanska had given the Aces a commanding 12-5 lead by thrashing Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 in the second set after Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza beat Daniel Nestor and Mladenovic in the mixed doubles.

Fabrice Santoro edged out Goran Ivanisevic 7-6 (7-4) to make it three sets from three for the leaders, then Nadal combined with Bopanna to consign Federer and Marin Cilic to a 6-4 doubles defeat.

Nadal then thrilled an expectant crowd by getting one over on Federer once again to ensure the Aces won all five sets.

Earlier in the day, Singapore Slammers followed up their win over the Philippine Mavericks on Friday with a 24-22 success against the struggling Japan Warriors at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

Thomas Enqvist got the Warriors off to a winning start by beating Carlos Moya 6-2, but Belinda Bencic thrashed Kirsten Flipkens 6-1 and Nick Kyrgios won the other singles contest against Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-5 after the two sides had won one doubles match apiece.