Raonic, Mavericks Hand Indian Aces First Loss in IPTL Action
In a matchup between the top two teams in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), the Philippine Mavericks gave the Micromax Indian Aces its first loss of the season, winning a tight 25-24 affair Tuesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, Philippines.
It was the Aces who got out to the early lead thanks to the two doubles sets. Ivan Dodig & Marcelo Melo defeated Richard Gasquet & Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-4 in the Men’s Doubles set, and then Rohan Bopanna & Sania Mirza handed Serena Williams & Treat Huey a 6-3 loss in the Mixed-Doubles contest.
Needing two victories in the Women’s Singles and Men’s Singles sets, Serena and Canadian Milos Raonic came up clutch. Serena got things started by downing Australian Samantha Stosur 6-3 to even the overall match, leaving it to be decided by the fifth and final set.
And it was Raonic who came up big against Rafael Nadal, downing the Spaniard 6-5 to seal the win.
“I just played my game, stuck to the plan,” said Raonic. “With Rafa out there, I knew I had to keep the points short, not let him control the game, and that’s just what I did. It is exciting to play the way we did all three nights in front of home fans, winning all our matches here.”
In Tuesday’s second match, the OBI UAE Royals improved to 3-2 with a 26-23 win over the OUE Singapore Slammers.
