It will be a battle between two former World No. 1s when Martina Hingis of Hyderabad Aces and Jelena Jankovic of Nagpur Orangers lead the challenge for their respective teams in the Champions Tennis League at the floodlit LB Stadium tennis complex here on Sunday.
Both have won one tie each, against the same opposition Chennai Warriors, in this season; Aces won 25-16, while Orangers came out 24-23 winners.
Hyderabad Aces will bank on Hingis, who in probability could be the most popular amongst the foreign players in this league by virtue of her winning partnership with India’s Sania Mirza, and the big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic, who saw to it that his team won all three games he featured in.
Quite naturally, Hingis and Swede Thomas Johannson are confident about Sunday’s game. They hope to continue the winning form for Aces in front of what they expect to be a lustily-cheering home crowd.
“I played here last time and really enjoyed the atmosphere. It is great to be back and we hope to provide the fans joy with our performance by notching up our second win,” said Hingis.
Meanwhile Orangers, making their debut in the CTL this season, are not overawed, either by the reputation of the big names in the opposition or the likely atmosphere in the stands.
“The format is exciting which demands someone to give his or her 100 per cent always,” said the articulate 41-year-old Alex Corretja. “Everything happens very fast in this format and you have to be on your toes always. This is what makes CTL so interesting and exciting,” said the two-time French Open finalist.
Significantly, Corretja also appealed to the fans to come in big numbers. “We love noisy crowds, lustily cheering or even having a go at us,” he said.
Jankovic, the 2008 US Open finalist and one of the few to get the better of Serena Williams on the circuit, is aware that it will be “very difficult” to face the big-serving Karlovic. “And, Hingis is one of the best doubles players right now in the world and also holds the World No. 1 ranking with Sania. It should be a very competitive match,” she said.
“We are a good team and respect each other. Every game is important and there will be pressure every time to win in any format for sure,” said the 34-year-old Feliciano Lopez, who recently had a career-best ranking of World No. 12.
