Kyrgios, Pliskova Lead Slammers Past Mavericks in IPTL
The OUE Singapore Slammers notched a 26-24 win over the Philippine Mavericks on the second day of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) on Thursday in Kobe, Japan.
The Slammers got on the board thanks to Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova, who defeated American Serena Williams 6-4 in the Women’s Singles set, after Mark Philippoussis of the Mavericks downed Carlos Moya 6-4 in the Men’s Legends set.
The two teams would split the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles sets at 6-4 each, leaving the match to be decided by the fifth and final set in Men’s Singles between Australian Nick Kyrgios and Canada’s Milos Raonic.
Kyrgios would go on to defeat Raonic by the same score line as the first four sets, 6-4, to close the victory out for the Slammers.
“I’ve heard wonderful things about it from players on the tour these past few months, the fun and the motivating parts with the rest of the team members, and I was really looking forward to it,” said Raonic, who was making his IPTL debut. “It’s a good format, fans enjoy it. For me, I’m somebody who usually likes to take his time in between points, so it will take a little getting used to, but I’m sure it’ll get better by tomorrow. For me personally, I’m looking forward to playing tennis in new markets, and it’s so good for the sport.”
In Thursday’s second match, the OBI UAE Royals improved to 2-0 in the IPTL with a 30-15 victory over the Legendari Japan Warriors.
Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic knocked off Russia’s Maria Sharapova 6-4 in the Women’s Singles set to lead the way for the Royals.
