Fans hail ‘El Rey’ of clay

MANILA, Philippines - Rafael Nadal drew strength from the cheerful crowd and turned back Tomas Berdych last night, 6-3, for a memorable debut in the International Premier Tennis League at the Mall of Asia Arena.

It’s also the first time that Nadal, known as the “King of Clay,” played on Philippine soil. He drew loud cheers from the crowd after thanking them for coming out to see him play.

“It’s a great feeling, I’m happy to be here. Fantastic crowd here in the Philippines,” said the 29-year-old Spanish superstar, whose victory in the men’s singles put his Indian Aces on top of the leaderboard.

The Aces, the reigning champions, now have three wins in as many matches, and remained as the only unbeaten team among field of tennis superstars playing for five squads.

“It’s a very good start. Format is very interesting. It’s very quick. It makes it very interesting. And it’s really nice to play in a place you love,” he said.

The cheers grew louder.

Nadal came back from a 3-0 hole to beat Berdych, who took the game seriously like they were vying for the final Grand Slam title of the year.

On the other hand, Nadal looked more relaxed, even smiling at missed opportunities. He lost the first three games at love, and broke the ice in the fourth game with a service winner.

Nadal raised his fist after winning his first point against Berdych. It signaled a great comeback for the winner of 14 Grand Slam titles, nine of them on French clay.

From the 3-0 hole, Nadal took a 5-4 lead but allowed Berdych one last chance when the Czech national forced a 5-5 tie and a race-to-seven tiebreak.

It was all Nadal as the crowd went with him. He sealed the win with another winner. Then he sent the ball flying high into the stands.

Nadal looked up to the crowd, including Filipinos who waved Spanish flags or held placards saying, “Vamos! Rafa!” and “Manila Loves Nadal.”

At some point, he smiled when a female fan shouted, “Rafa! Marry me!” and when a male fan cried, “I love you Rafa!”

Nadal earlier teamed up with Ivan Dodig in the men’s doubles and also came out with a 6-3 win over Daniel Nestor and Berdych.

The Aces won all five sets, including a 6-4 win by Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna over Kristina Mladenovic and Nestor in mixed doubles, a 6-3 victory by Samantha Stosur over Ana Ivanovic in women’s singles, and a 6-3 decision by Fabrice Santoro over Goran Ivanisevic in the legends singles.

The Aces won on points, 30-18.

The Royals, on paper the strongest team this year, took their second loss in four matches and trailed the Aces (3-0), the Philippine Mavericks (3-1) and Singapore Slammers (2-2). The Japan Warriors are down at 0-5.

The Mavericks of Serena Williams outpointed the Warriors, 25-21, with victories in legends singles, mixed doubles and women’s singles.