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IPTL: Serena arrives, but Mavericks down Slammers

Manila, Philippines - The Manila Mavericks after defeating the Singapore Slammers. (Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images)

The Manila Mavericks spoiled the International Premier Tennis League debut of Serena Williams and bucked the absence of Maria Sharapova, fashioning out a 26-19 victory over Williams and the Singapore Slammers as the groundbreaking tennis tournament’s Manila leg came to an end Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Williams flew in early Sunday to join her Slammers teammates as the team sought their first win in the tournament. But the Mavericks, playing without Sharapova who only committed to play two nights, finally gave the hometown crowd something to cheer for after also going winless in their first two matches.

The Mavericks also had a new player as surprise substitute Mark Philippoussis made an auspicious IPTL debut, beating compatriot and former Davis Cup teammate Pat Rafter, 6-2, in the legends’ set.

“We know each other’s game inside out,” said Philippousis. “He’s the best server-volleyer ever.”

Philippoussis flew in to replace Carlos Moya, who suffered a groin injury Saturday night. It proved to be worth the trip.

“I took advantage of it because the atmosphere is amazing,” he said. “The crowd is incredible.”

With a four-game lead, the Mavericks looked to pull away and nail their first win. The task fell in the hands of team captain Treat Huey and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who engaged Lleyton Hewitt and Tomas Berdych in a thrilling men’s doubles set.

With the set deadlocked 4-4 and the Mavericks leading 30-0 in the eighth game, the Slammers made a substitution in hopes of shaking things up, sending in Nick Kyrgios for Hewitt. But the Mavericks broke serve to take a 5-4 lead. The Slammers, though, broke right back to send the set into a five-minute shootout.

The Slammers took an early 2-0 lead in the shootout, but the Mavericks won the five of the next six points to seize a 5-3 lead with 1:10 left. In a desperation move, the Slammers called for a happiness power point in hopes of tying it up. But the Mavericks won the point to take an insurmountable 7-3 lead with under a minute to go. They would go on to win it 7-4 to take the set 6-5 and up their overall lead to 12-7 as the crowd roared in approval.

“It’s just an honor to play with Treat. Did you see how he played today?” Tsonga asked the crowd, which responded enthusiastically.

(Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images)
(Czeasar Dancel/NPPA Images)



Williams then made her IPTL debut, teaming with Hewitt in the mixed doubles set against Kirsten Flipkens and Andy Murray. Flipkens, who was also making her IPTL debut after sitting out the first two days to give way to Sharapova, proved to be an effective sub as she and Murray easily dispatched the Slammers, 6-1, to pad their lead to 18-8.

World no. 1 Williams struggled as she apparently was still adjusting to the court. For Murray, it was a sweet win after he and Sharapova dropped their mixed doubles sets on Friday and Saturday.

“I’ve known (Kirsten) since we were 13 or 14, and she’s a great player,” he said.

But Williams showed her class in the women’s singles set, brushing off a brief challenge from Flipkens to win 6-3 and cut the Mavericks’ lead to 21-14. The American kept Flipkens running from side to side with punishing ground strokes and neutralized the Belgian’s serve with pinpoint returns to dominate the set.

In the final set, Murray capped off a thrilling three days of world-class tennis, topping Kyrgios 6-5 after winning an exciting five-minute shootout 6-5. Murray appeared to have the shootout wrapped up after racing to a 4-0 lead, but Kyrgios won the next three points to make it exciting. Murray then won the next two games for a 6-3 lead, but Kyrgios just wouldn’t go away, cutting it to 6-5 with around 40 seconds left.

But Murray played it safe and ran the clock down with a rally as Kyrgios failed to make a move. Afterwards, the former Wimbledon champion expressed his appreciation for the crowd’s support.

“It shows that people here love tennis,” he said. “They don’t really have the opportunity to watch. I hope we can come back next year and do it again.”

The Mavericks thus earned four points to pad their total to seven heading into the Singapore leg. The Slammers limp home with just four points but can take solace in the fact they will be playing in front of a home crowd in the next leg.