Czech Tomas Berdych turned back Nick Kyrgio in a hard-fought men’s singles battle, 6-4, to hand the UAE Royals its first win in three outings at the expense of Singapore Slammers, 26-23, as the Manila leg of the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League came to a close on Tuesday night.
Leading at 5-4 but staring the in the face of a Kyrgios rally, Berdych transformed a 30-40 deficit in the 11th frame into a victory with a beautifully placed backhand volley that was worth double-points (powerpoint), to earn the win that put the Royals back into the thick of things in the country-hopping tournament.
“That was a good one. I hope you like it!” Berdych told the cheering fans at the world-class Mall of Asia Arena.
“We’re back in the fight. It’s great to finish with a win in Manila and bring the energy to India,” said the one-time Wimbledon finalist and Paris Masters winner.
The Royals bowed to the Philippine Mavericks and the Indian Aces in the first two days of the leg and third-day win put them within striking distance of the leaders with 50.2 percentage points culled from 118-117 win-loss games. The tournament goes to New Delhi for the third of five legs.
The Slammers closed out the Manila leg with 49.4 points.
Serbian Ana Ivanovic put the Royals ahead with a 6-5 (7-5) win over Karoline Pliskova in the women’s singles.
But the one-time French Open champion had to sweat it out in the final frame with the scored tied at 5-5. She broke Pliskova’s serve with a powerful forehand return to prevail, 7-5, in the race-to-seven shootout and take the set.
For all the excitement that envelops this novel tournament that put together the past and present stars in tennis, no other Filipino seems to enjoy the IPTL games better than Treat Huey, the only local player injected into the Mavericks squad.
Huey gets both the pressure and the privilege of playing alongside the world’s top female netter in Serena Williams and more than held his own against the best in the world in this unique tennis tournament.
Huey’s credentials, after all, prove that he truly deserves his spot.
He has represented the Philippines in countless international events, and as a doubles specialist, has reached 12 finals in the ATP World Tour, including the 2012 City Open and 2013 Swiss Indoors. He won the 2015 Estoril Open with Scott Lipsky last year.
His highest world ranking was at no. 20 in March of 2014.
In his second season with the Mavericks, he isprivileged to be paired with Williams. Although they narrowly lost to the Royals, the big hometown crowd enjoyed the superb Sunday night treat of a match against the tandem of Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor.
“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,” said Huey.
“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.” he added.
Huey did not play when the Mavericks defeated the Japan Warriors, 25-21, on Monday night. He is scheduled to be paired again with Serena when they play the tough Indian Aces on the third and final day on Tuesday night.
Mavericks and the Aces are the top favorites to prevail in the five-team, country-hopping tournament. After the round robin eliminations, the top two teams would be determined by points system based on win-loss percentage.
In case of tie for second place, the other finalist will be determined by superior head-to-head result, largest winning margin or via the toss coin.
After the Manila leg, the tour will go to New Delhi for the third leg on Dec. 10-12, then Dubai (14-16) and Singapore for the finals (Dec 18-20).