Welcome back to Manila, Coca Cola International Premiere Tennis League now on its second season. The smashing debut last year that brought top greats and favorites Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova and No. 1 ranking Serena Williams here in the Philippines was so successful that the league is once again on the road covering five cities in five countries which includes Japan, India, UAE, Singapore and Manila. The Manila dates are December 6-8, 2015.
Match Summary Day 1:
Team captain Philippoussis won the toss & elected to serve, winning the 1st set 6-2 in 24 minutes for the home fans
The men’s singles saw the towering Milos Raonic over-power Tomas Berdych 6-4, giving the team a 2 set lead
The mixed doubles with home star Treat Huey and Serena Williams pairing up against Nestor/Mladenovic was a delight. Plenty of cross-court backhands and straight-line passes from Huey/Williams in a set that tied 5-5, with a shoot-out that tied at 6-6. It was sudden death that gave the Royals an edge, and win the set 6-5
The women’s singles had everyone in rapt attention, as Ivanovic and Williams looked set for the face-off! Williams clearly in the groove after her mixed doubles match earlier on, winning the set 6-3
The men’s doubles some brilliant tennis from the French pairing of Roger-Vassellin/Gasquet. Their clever shot-making out-smarted Nestor/Berdych with a score that finished 6-3, wining it for the home team on day 1.
This year’s Coca Cola IPTL Teams Line Up:
Micromax Indian Aces (defending champions): Fabrice Santoro, Ivan Dodig, Rohan Bopanna, Sania Mirza, Gael Monfils, Rafael Nadal, Samantha Stosur
Legendari Japan Warriors: Ken Nishikori, Leander Paes, Maria Sharapova, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Kurumi Nara, Marat Safin, Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, Pierre-Hugues Herbert
OBI UAE Royals: Ana Ivanovic, Goran Ivanisevic, Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych, Daniel Nestor, Kristina Mladenovic, Roger Federer
OUE Singapore Slammers: Andy Murray, Carlos Moya, Karolina Pliskova, Nick Kyrgios, Belinda Bencic, Dustin Brown, Marcelo Melo, Stan Wawrinka
Philippine Mavericks: Serena Williams, Ajla Tomljanovic, Jarmila Gajdosova, Milos Raonic, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Mark Philippoussis, Richard Gasquet, Treat Huey
