IPTL: Singapore Slammers edge past Philippine Mavericks

Singapore Slammers defeated Philippine Mavericks 26-24 in an evenly-contested match of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) here today. The Mavericks won the men’s doubles and men’s legends singles but the Slammers clinched the women’s singles, mixed doubles and the men’s singles games to come out trumps in the tie.

Karolina Pliskova of the Singapore Slammers beat Serena Williams of the Philippine Mavericks 6-4.

Singapore Slammers defeated Philippine Mavericks 26-24 in an evenly-contested match of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) here today.

The Mavericks won the men’s doubles and men’s legends singles but the Slammers clinched the women’s singles, mixed doubles and the men’s singles games to come out trumps in the tie.

The Mavericks’ team bench featured Serena Williams and Milos Raonic joining Mark Philippoussis, Richard Gasquet, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Treat Huey, Ajla Tomljanovic and Jarmila Gajdosova. Serena ended up on the losing side today, going down 4-6 to Karolina Pliskova.

A win already under their belt, the Slammers looked set for the evening from the first set on. It was a match that tossed between 6s and 4s with all fie sets reading the same score-line; favouring one of the two teams till 2 sets all, with Nick Kyrgios closing it for the Slammers against Milos Raonic in the last set.

“Not only did I come prepared for the IPTL, I also have an ‘IPTL special edition haircut! It’s great to be playing in the IPTL, I’ve heard wonderful things about it from players on the tour these past few months, the fun and the motivating parts with the rest of the team members, and I was really looking forward to it,” Raonic said after the match.

“I’m looking forward to playing tennis in new markets, and it’s so good for the sport. Kobe, Manila, Delhi, Dubai, Singapore - all of these are markets that I’ve never been to before, and I’m really looking forward to it,” he added.