Cornet does the star turn for Raipur

HANGING TOUGH: Alize Cornet first beat Flavia Pennetta and then teamed up with Roberto Bautista Agut to clinch the mixed doubles rubber for Raipur Photo: Prashant Nakwe

They say beating Serena Williams is next to impossible. Last year, Alize Cornet achieved the feat on three occasions. The Frenchwoman, whose game is founded on grit and determination, gave a superb account of herself as the Raipur Rangers thrashed the Mumbai Tennis Masters 23-14 [3-5, 5-2, 5-3, 5-2, 5-2] on Day Two of the second edition of the Champions Tennis League on Tuesday.

When Cornet took the court, her team had lost the first set — legend’s singles — 3-5. Standing across the net was a player who won the last major of the year. Not only did Cornet take Flavia Pennetta head on, she beat the Italian at her own game by displaying power and precision in equal measure.

Pennetta looked anything but the player who triumphed at Flushing Meadows this year. The set began with the ladies trading breaks. Cornet restored order by taking a 3-2 lead before breaking Pennetta again. She took the set 5-2 with a forehand winner.

Then Cornet and Roberto Bautista Agut stormed past Pennetta and Santiago Giraldo. The highlight of the set was a brilliant rally, the centrepiece of which was Cornet. Haring her way from the baseline to net, she threw her racquet at everything, only to trip in the end.

Agut then joined hands with Ramkumar Ramanathan, who kept himself busy, often vocalising to add extra meat to his powerful forehands, besides serving well. His counterpart, Sriram Balaji, was clearly off-colour. The Mumbai duo went down 2-5 to give the visitors an unassailable 18-12 lead. In the fifth rubber, Agut thrashed Giraldo 5-2 to complete the rout.

Earlier, Richard Krajicek put on a master-class against Thomas Muster, firing aces at will. He also took a leaf out of Roger Federer’s book, unleashing the ‘sneak attack’ on Muster’s weak second serve.

The Dutchman served four consecutive aces to open up a 3-1 lead, and by the time Muster upped his level, it was too late. Muster’s team, however, more than made up for his loss.

The results: Raipur Rangers (RR) bt Mumbai Tennis Masters (MTM) 23-14. Legends: Thomas Muster lost to Richard Krajicek 5-3; Women: Alize Cornet bt Flavia Pennetta 5-2; Roberto Bautista Agut & Cornet bt Santiago Giraldo & Flavia Pennetta 5-3; Men’s Doubles: Roberto Bautista Agut & Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Santiago Giraldo & Sriram Balaji 5-2; Men: Roberto Bautista Agut bt Santiago Giraldo 5-2.