Vamos Rafa: Nadal electrifies Manila crowd in IPTL debut

MANILA, Philippines -- The whole Mall of Asia Arena went wild the moment Rafael Nadal stepped on the court.  

It did not take long for Nadal, one of the greatest tennis players of this generation, to reciprocate the warm Filipino hospitality with top-notch performance never before seen live on Philippine soil. 

The Spaniard tennis great dished out an inspired effort in the final two sets to seal the defending champion Micromax Indian Aces' third straight romp by sweeping the UAE Royals, 30-18, in the Coca-Cola Premier Tennis League Season 2 that jolted a slow-moving Monday in the metropolis. 

The five-set sweep pushed the Aces momentarily back on top of the table with 146-82 record and 56.2 percent winning percentage. 

The much-awaited IPTL debut of Nadal went down more than what was anticipated with the 14-time Grand Slam champion putting on a show to the roaring approval of the Manila crowd that chanted "Vamos Rafa!" almost all throughout the match.

He teamed up with Ivan Dodig for an electrifying 6-3 win in the men's doubles against the UAE Royals' Tomas Berdych and Daniel Nestor. 

As if that was not enough, Nadal returned to the court on the final set and score an epic come-from-behind 6-5 win against Berdych that was decided in a super shootout. 

"Great feeling, I'm very happy to be here. It's a pleasure to be in Manila for the first time in my life and play in front of a fantastic crowd here," said Nadal that was well received by thousands of fans who came to watch him play in flesh. 

The Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza started the ball rolling for the tournament favorite Aces sneaking from behind to trip the Royals pair of Daniel Nestor and Kristina Mladenovic, who were coming off a big win over local hero Treat Huey and world no.1 Serena Williams 24 hours ago. 

Bopanna and Mirza wiped out the 3-1 lead erected by Nestor and Mladenovic to score a 6-4 win in the opening set. Samantha Stosur outclassed an out-of-sync Ana Ivanovic in the women's singles.  Not even a Mladenovic substitution late in the set can save the Royals from falling deep early, 7-12, as Stosur went on to chalk up a 6-3 win. 

The Aces' playing-coach Fabrice Santoro continued his unbeaten run in the IPTL Season 2 with a clinical 6-3 win over an exasperated Goran Ivanosevic in the Legends single to hike their overall lead to 18-10. 

Then came Nadal's pair of electrifying performances that got the crowd roaring and up on their feet to honor the future Hall of Famer.