SINGAPORE — After spending years waiting for Roger Federer to play a competitive match in Singapore, local tennis fans were finally rewarded for their patience yesterday as the Swiss Master played three matches for the Obi UAE Royals against the OUE Singapore Slammers in their International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) clash at the Indoor Stadium last night.

The winner of 17 Grand Slam titles, dubbed by many as the greatest tennis player of all time, competed in the mixed doubles with Kristina Mladenovic, paired with Daniel Nestor in the men’s doubles before taking on compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in the singles.

And even though he could not complete a clean sweep yesterday, winning two of his three matches, his efforts were enough to ensure a 27-23 win for the Royals.

Nor did it did not matter to the cheering fans — for them, being able to see Federer in the flesh was clearly reward enough.

The Royals got off to a flying start with two wins in a row as Goran Ivanisevic defeated Carlos Moya 6-4 and Mladenovic saw off Karolina Pliskova 7-5.

It was the Roger Federer show after that as the 34-year-old played three matches in succession.

It got off to a rocky start as he and Mladenovic lost 3-6 to in a mixed doubles match to Dustin Brown and Pliskova. But Federer finally got the kinks out of his system in the men’s doubles as he and Nestor defeated Marcelo Melo and Nick Krygios 6-4.

Then came the highlight of the night — the star-studded singles clash between Federer and Wawrinka.

Federer got off to a great start when he took a 3-0 lead, only for Wawrinka to stage a comeback to level the score at 4-4. However, world No 3 Federer held his nerve to break in the final game and pulled off a 6-4 win much to the delight of the crowd.

Said Federer after the match: “The last two games were great. I had a fantastic time. Thanks to everyone for coming down. I have had a great experience. It was a high-quality match against Stan. My team has been brilliant and I had a blast.

“I played four times in IPTL this year, shows I enjoyed it a lot. Hope to be back again next year. I am happy to finish on a positive note.”

In an earlier match, the Legendari Japan Warriors thrashed the Philippines Mavericks 29-15.

TODAY:

Obi UAE Royals vs Philippine Mavericks (4pm)

OUE Singapore Royals vs Micromax Indian Aces (7.30 pm)