Just one day after defeating the OBI UAE Royals 29-19, the Philippine Mavericks thrilled the home fans once again with a tight 25-21 win over bottom-side Legendari Japan Warriors in the International Premier Tennis League.
The action got underway with the men’s legend’s singles clash between Mark Philippoussis and Thomas Enqvist which went the Aussie’s way 6-2, on the back of a whopping seven aces and thirteen winners.
Philipp Kohlschreiber leveled things up afterwards for the struggling Legendari Japan Warriors with a 6-3 victory over Richard Gasquet. The Frenchman was making his first appearance in the singles and showed signs of being rusty as he wracked up ten unforced errors en route to defeat.
With things incredibly tight, it was time for the mixed doubles between Milos Raonic/Serena Williams and Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. The North American pairing lived up to their tags of favourites and dispatched the Japan Warriors duo by 6-4.
Serena Williams and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni both remained on court for the fourth set of the tie and, once again, it was the American who pulled the Phillipine Mavericks even further into the lead with a 6-3 win.
In the final set, local hero Treat Huey finally stepped out to the court to thrill the Manila crows, lining up alongside Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the men’s doubles. The home side lost to experimented duo, Leander Paes and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, but it wasn’t enough for the Legendari Japan Warriors to close down the deficit as they fell to their fifth defeat in five games in the competition. On the other hand, the win for the Mavericks sees them climb into second place behind the Micromax Indian Aces.
After the clash Treat Huey stated: “It’s been wonderful playing with some of the best players in the world. When I played with Serena in Kobe, the first match I was a bit nervous. But then we won all our games there, we played really well, I loosened up a bit, and we got off to a great start here in Manila too. I’ve really enjoyed playing with her, and it’s great to have a partner like Serena on your side of the court. In the next few days, I’m looking forward to playing with and against some of the other bigger players … it’s great for me, and a terrific learning for my game.” On the IPTL competition and enjoying home support, he added “I think the IPTL has been terrific for tennis in the Philippines. We have some great junior talent coming up, and this kind of exposure is terrific for them. It’s wonderful to see fans come out and support tennis the way they have been doing for the IPTL last year and this year too!”
Milos Raonic added, “It’s a lot of fun playing mixed doubles, a I’ve played it a couple of times earlier, and when you have one of the greatest women’s player of all time as your partner, it just makes it easier on myself!”
The Mavericks are back in action tomorrow with a top of the table clash against the Micromax Indian Aces.
