Verdasco guides V Chennai Warriors to first CTL victory
V Chennai Warriors defeated Nagpur Orangers 22-18 in the Champions Tennis League (CTL) 2015 to register their maiden victory of the season in their final match at Nagpur on Thursday. Fernando Verdasco was the star of the day as he led Chennai to victory with consecutive wins in mixed doubles, men’s doubles and men’s singles.
In the CTL format, the final result is decided upon the basis of the aggregate score of the five-match tie. The five matches are in the category of legends (singles), mixed doubles, women's singles, men's doubles and men's singles. Each tie also consists of five sets.
In the legend’s tie, Alex Corretja defeated Rainer Schuettler of Chennai 5-3 to give Nagpur a winning start to the match.
In the women’s singles, former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic defeated Heather Watson 5-4 to increase Nagpur’s lead to 10-7.
Fernando Verdasco partnered Heather Watson in the mixed doubles tie as they scripted a comeback by winning the tie 5-4 against Feliciano Lopez and Jelena Jankovic of Nagpur.
Verdasco continued his brilliant form into the men’s doubles tie as he and Vishnu Vardhan decimated Feliciano Lopez and Divij Sharan 5-1 to take Chennai into 17-15.
With Feliciano Lopez unwell, Indian Divij Sharan took his place in the men’s singles tie against Fernando Verdasco. Verdasco and Divij Sharan produced some excellent tennis in the tie. However, the experienced Spaniard held his nerves to win the tie 5-3 and guided Chennai to their maiden victory.
Nagpur Orangers will now take on Hyderabad Aces in the last match of the group stages on Friday. Nagpur Rangers had defeated Hyderabad Aces 22-20 in their previous encounter at Hyderabad. Â With both teams tied at two wins in three matches, the winner of the match will progress to the CTL final from the South Zone to meet the winner of the North Zone- Punjab Masters.
