IPTL REPORT: Mavericks leave Warriors winless, but Japan celebrates Nara’s win over Serena
THE PHILIPPINE MAVERICKS produced a clinical performance against the Japan Warriors to win their first match of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in Kobe, Japan yesterday.
From the first set, the Mavericks displayed high percentage tennis to outclass relatively undercooked Warriors. Mavericks’ coach Treat Huey and captain Mark Philippoussis constructed a brilliant strategy and the entire unit executed the plan to a nicety.
The Warriors might have lost their both their matches in the Japan leg, but the success of Kurumi Nara against Serena Williams in the last set of the evening was the biggest plus for the home team.
First up, Japan’s pair of Leander Paes/Lucic Baroni and Mavericks’ Treat Huey/Serena Williams to the court for some mixed doubles action. Team Japan started the match with a break in the first game and raced to a 3-1 lead. That said, the Philippine team hit back to level the match.
Just when it looked like the set was approaching a tie-breaker, Huey and Serena came up with some miraculous shots to break Baroni’s serve and held for a 6-3 win in the first set.
For the men’s doubles, Paes stayed onto the court to partner Pierre Herbert against the duo of Roger Vasselin/Richard Gasquet. The Warriors’ pair displayed some amazing coordination, footwork and shot-making, but the Frenchmen too, held firm and at the crucial moments came up with some spectacular shots of their own to clinch a hard fought set 6-4.
After two sets of play, the home team had won eight games and the visitors had 12 to their credit.
Onto the men’s singles event, the Kobe crowd was eagerly waiting for their home favourite Kei Nishikori. The Japanese was pitted against the big-serving Milos Raonic and it turned out to be one of the most intriguing matches of the evening.
From the very first point, the crowd was treated to some long rallies, booming serves and exquisite passing shots.
The Canadian kept hammering bombs and hit the 230kmph mark on one occasion. In the end, with no breaks of serve, the set had to be decided by a shoot-out and it was Raonic, who edged the local boy 6-5.
In the legends category, Mavericks’ Philippoussis and Slammers’ Marat Safin indulged in some exciting exchanges. From baseline slugfest, big serving to some chip and charges, both men constructed some wonderful points.
The Aussie kept serving thunderbolts and used his backhand slice to great effect to upset the rhythm of the Russian. Fortunes kept fluctuating from one side to the other as the set headed into a second shoot-out of the evening. In the end, Philippoussis produced some flawless tennis to breeze through the shoot-out and take the set 6-5.
Now, the Warriors had lost all the four sets and were trailing the visitors by 17 -24 and heading into the last set of the evening against Serena, the upcoming Japanese player Kurumi Nara had little hopes of finding success. However, the diminutive girl displayed great courage and a wide range of shots to unsettle the American.
In the end, the talented Nara fed off the energy from the local fans and upset the world’s best player Serena 6-4 to mark the biggest achievement in her short tennis career. Both teams will now play their Manila leg of the matches tomorrow.
