Manila loves Rafa, Serena & other tennis stars

For three days last week, Manila was treated to an incredible display of top-class tennis with a dazzling array of stars from all over the world congregating to play in the second leg of the second International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) season at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.

The IPTL staged its inaugural season last year with India claiming the $1 million first prize over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Royals, Manila (now Philippine) Mavericks and Singapore Slammers in that order. The four teams battled each other in head-to-head ties where each match was broken down into a men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and legends’ singles straight-to-6 set.  The tour took the players to New Delhi, Dubai, Manila and Singapore as IPTL founder Mahesh Bhupathi, an Indian tennis legend who reached the quarterfinals in three Grand Slam tournaments, created an innovative platform to raise the level of interest in the sport in key Asian cities.

This season, the IPTL welcomed a new franchise, the Japan Warriors, and introduced format changes to make the league an even more exciting experience for fans.  The atmosphere was just as electric with the return of the power point where a team is allowed to make a point count double once in a set, the rocking music in between point, set and match with a DJ spinning away, the option of a substitution during a set and no-ad scoring to quicken the pace of play.  The major innovation was a final duel between the top two placers to decide the championship on the last day of hostilities in Singapore on Dec. 20

The IPTL classifies its players into several categories — icon, A, B, C and D for men and women, doubles player, past champion or legend and an “uncategorized” class.  The Mavericks lineup is composed of icon Serena Williams, Class A Milos Raonic, Class B Richard Gasquet, Class C Edouard Roger Vasselin, Class C Ajla Tomljanovic, Class D Jarmila Gajdosova, Fil-Am doubles player Treat Huey and legend/coach/captain Mark Philippoussis.  Other icons in the league are India’s Rafael Nadal, Japan’s Maria Sharapova, Singapore’s Andy Murray and Roger Federer of UAE.

Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) chairman and Mavericks co-owner Jean Henri Lhuillier, who sat on the team bench throughout the Manila leg, said the crowd reaction was incredible at the MOA Arena.  “From last year, I think we had about a 15 percent drop in ticket sales but the fans were more enthusiastic this time,” he said.  “What could’ve caused the slight drop was we scheduled the games on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday compared to Friday, Saturday and Sunday the previous season so we couldn’t maximize the pull of the weekend crowd.  Still, the atmosphere was tremendous.  The fans were really into the action.  I saw fans holding up Mavericks banners all the way up to the rafters.  We had solid Rafa fans but we had a lot more solid Mavericks fans.  Sitting on the bench, it was just as exciting this year as the last.  I noticed that this year, the players were all business, they were more serious, more competitive, more engaged.  I was also more comfortable on the bench, having learned from experience how to interact with and approach the players.”

Lhuillier said all five franchise owners are committed to stay with the IPTL for 10 years.  His Mavericks co-owners are SM Prime Holdings president Hans Sy, Philstar.com president Kevin Belmonte, businessman Haresh Hiranand and banker Balaji Swaminathan. 

“Right now, we’re experiencing growing pains,” said Lhuillier.  “The way we see it, the IPTL is like a Grand Slam tournament.  We’ve got 11 major ATP and four Grand Slam tournaments a year.  I consider the IPTL the 16th major tennis event.  It’s the perfect format for the modern age.  Fans want to see a quicker, more exciting event.  It’s happening in cricket and arena soccer.  It’s the age of social media where communication is fast and concise.  The IPTL is highly entertaining, action-packed tennis.  Just imagine the impact of the power point which has a dynamic effect on a set with its ability to swing momentum in a snap.”

In the Manila leg, the Philippines was unscathed, beating UAE, 29-18, Japan, 25-21 and India, 25-24.  The consensus MVP was 6-5 Milos Raonic whose booming serve was the most fearsome weapon in the three-day hostilities.  Raonic swept his sets, winning two singles and one mixed doubles.  But at the end of the leg, Raonic told Lhuillier he would skip the rest of the season to rest an aching back on doctors’ orders.

Lhuillier named Raonic as the friendliest star of the tour.  He also chose Williams as the most accommodating, Nadal the most popular, Philippoussis the most serious (“he kept his teammates in line and was very strict at practice”), Gasquet the most competitive and Singapore’s 20-year-old Australian Davis Cupper Nick Kyrgios the most promising.  Kyrgios’ mother Norlaila is Malaysian who was in Manila for the IPTL’s first season last year.  Norlaila’s mother was a Malaysian actress who was married six times.   “When I was at the MOA Arena watching tennis, I completely forgot about the traffic outside because the Filipino fans were unbelievable, cheering for every point,” said Kyrgios’ mother. 

PHILTA vice president Randy Villanueva said the level of play was a lot higher this year.  “The quality of play was amazing,” he said.  “The players knew if they didn’t play well, they’d be benched like what happened to Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi last year.  They weren’t invited back to the IPTL.  What I noticed was how big the Mavericks fan base has become.  Fans cheered for Nadal but when he played against the Mavericks, the fans cheered for the home team.”

Villanueva picked Williams as the most serious player in the leg.  “I thought she struggled with her fitness but the intensity was evident,” he said.  “She lost to Kurumi Nara in the Japan leg and in Manila, she blanked her 3-0 before the Warriors called in substitute Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.  Serena hadn’t played since the US Open and even skipped the WTA Finals in Singapore.  She looked tired at times but when she set her mind to win, she was scary.”

Villanueva said Japan’s Philip Kholscheiber had the best backhand, Raonic the best serve, Nadal the best groundstrokes and Kyrgios the best forehand.  He chose Japan’s Leander Paes and Pierre Hugues Herbert as the best men’s doubles team, Serena the best women’s singles player and India’s Sonia Mirza and Rohan Bopanna the best mixed doubles pair.

Lhuillier said Nadal has put the IPTL on the world map.  Every move he made on and off the court drew a roar from fans.  Sitting on the bench during the Mavericks match, Nadal changed shirts twice, exposing his upper body and the crowd suddenly forgot about the players crossing swords on the court.  Williams was another favorite.  She had problems with her serve against India’s Samantha Stosur but when it was winning time, she was unstoppable.

Williams was in Manila last year but played for Singapore. She said she returned because she saw how Filipino fans embraced the sport with a passion.  Nadal said his first trip to Manila was unforgettable.  Aside from competing, he also held a kids’ clinic at the Colegio de San Agustin.

“I heard some wonderful things about the IPTL from the players last year,” said Nadal.  “I was looking forward to playing last year, too, but had to pull out because of my appendicitis injury.  It’s a great format, superbly organized, all the players love it and it’s great for the sport to be able to go to new markets.  It’s my first time in Manila and the crowd has been fantastic.”  A source said Nadal was encouraged to visit Manila by Spanish legend Carlos Moya who played for the Mavericks last year but is now with Singapore.

The night before the first day of action, the visitors were feted at a welcome dinner at the Hiranand residence in Dasmarinas Village, Makati.  An auction was held to raise funds for tennis development during the affair and $17,000 was raised.

No doubt about it, the IPTL is here to stay and the bottom line is a love set for the fans.