Local fans came out in huge numbers on day two of the Coca-Cola IPTL in Japan’s host city of Kobe, but home heroes Japan Warriors failed to make the most of their support after the UAE Royals swept to a comfortable 30-15 win.
In the mixed doubles, Maria Sharapova and Pierre-Hugues Herbert failed to score a point against the experienced Royals pairing of Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor, who took the set 6-0.
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The women’s singles saw Sharapova come back for the Warriors, facing off against Ana Ivanovic, but the Russian was once again on the losing side, felled 6-4.
Next up, the legends singles took audiences back a decade or two, with Japan’s Marat Safin taking on Goran Ivanisevic.
The UAE Royals man went on to put his side 3-0 up in yet more comfortable fashion in a 6-4 win.
Tomas Berdych then joined the party on a superb day for the UAE outfit, first joining Nestor to complete a men’s doubles win over Herbert and Leander Paes (6-4), before despatching Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 in the closing singles match.