MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Mavericks squeaked past the Legendari Japan Warriors anew, 25-21, for their third straight victory in the Manila leg of the 2015 International Premier Tennis League Monday, December 7 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Mavericks, which climbed from third to second place in the standings, also narrowly defeated the Warriors in the Kobe leg, 28-24. The Warriors remain winless in the tournament.
The Philippine Mavericks opened the match strong thanks to a dominant 6-2 opening set victory by Mark Philippoussis over Thomas Enqvist in men's legend's singles.
Richard Gasquet then dropped his men's singles set against Philipp Kohlschreiber, 3-6, before the duo of Serena Williams and Milos Raonic pulled off a 6-4 win versus Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in mixed doubles set.
Williams later displayed her power and impressive reflexes during her women's singles set rematch with Kurumi Nara and substitute Lucic-Baroni. She scored several games by outsmarting her foes to electrify the crowd.
Williams led 3-0 early against Nara, who upset the women's world no. 1 in Japan, before Lucic-Baroni was subbed in and inched to within 3-2. Williams, however, held on for the 6-3 victory.
Although Leander Paes and Herbert turned a tightly contested men's doubles final set into a 6-4 triumph over Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Treat Huey, the Mavericks had already done enough to continue its win streak. – Rappler.com