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MANILA, Philippines – The Manila leg of the 2014 Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) tournament closed with a victory for the Manila Mavericks, who outlasted the Singapore Slammers, 27-19, on Sunday evening, November 30, at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
World No. one Serena Williams made her debut for the Slammers on the final day of the Manila leg and split the two matches she played in. Her women’s singles set win over Kirsten Flipkens was the only win in day three for the Slammers, who will go to the Singapore leg of the tourney last in the standings at 0-3.
The Mavericks, on the other hand, are 1-2 after three games.
“We got off to a better start today, and I think in this format that helps,” said Andy Murray, who won both his mixed doubles and men’s singles sets on Sunday.
“The support was amazing. In each day, it got a little bit better,” he later said about the Manila crowd at the MOA Arena.
(IN PHOTOS: Serena Williams takes Manila)
The match started with the legends singles bout between Mark Philippoussis, who played as a substitute for the injured Carlos Moya (groin). The 38-year-old Australia native did well, defeating fellow Australian counterpart Patrick Rafter, 6-2.
In the men’s doubles set, Manila’s team of Treat Huey and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dueled with Singapore’s Tomas Berdych and Lleyton Hewitt to a 5-5 draw, with the former winning the subsequent five-minute tiebreaker shootout, 7-5.
Williams made her debut in the mixed doubles set, where she and Hewitt lost the first five games to Murray and Flipkens. The Slammers’ pair was able to win the sixth game to not get swept, but lost the following one.
Williams was in no mood for any more slow starts in the women’s singles set, racing off to a 4-1 lead over Flipkens. Her 28-year-old Belgium native opponent, ranked no. 13 in the world, fought back to win the next two games, but was unable to complete the comeback as she fell to Williams, 6-3.
“It was fun. She played really well. She made it really entertaining for the crowd. I was happy to be out there for the crowd,” Williams said about her singles set.
In the final set of the evening, Murray bounced back from a 5-3 deficit to tie and force a five-minute tiebreaker shootout. In the extended period, the two-time grand slam champion escaped with a slim 6-5 win to take the set and seal the match victory for Team Manila.
The Mavericks will have to go on with the rest of the competition without Murray, who says he won’t anymore play in the rest of the remaining legs.
“The attitude of the team was very good throughout, and I hope they can continue to do well,” he said.
Williams, meanwhile, will be in action for the Singapore leg matches. Despite her team still being winless, she says there’s no sense of urgency yet.
“We just know that we want to do well in Singapore and win our matches,” she said.
“I think the team did the best we could tonight (Sunday),” Williams also said during the post-game presser. “I, for the most part, had fun.”
– Rappler.com
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