Mavericks fall in New Delhi

MANILA, Philippines - With Serena Williams and Milos Raonic out of the lineup, the Philippine Mavericks just couldn’t sustain their strong finish in the Manila leg of the International Premier Tennis League.

The Mavericks took a severe beating from the Indian Aces of Rafael Nadal late Thursday evening, 30-12, at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

The Aces, who lost to the Mavericks in the third and final day of the Manila leg last Tuesday, recorded the biggest winning margin for any team in this year’s IPTL.

Nadal spearheaded the Aces’ onslaught with victories in the men’s singles and men’s doubles.

The 29-year-old “King of Clay” defeated Edouard Roger-Vasselin, 6-4, after teaming up with Rohan Bopanna in an identical 6-4 victory over Fil-American Treat Huey and Roger-Vasselin.

Completing the sweep for the Aces were Fabrice Santoro, a 6-1 winner over Mark Philippoussis in the legends singles; Agnieszka Radwanska who trounced Jarmila Gajdosova in women’s singles, 6-1; and the pair of Sania Mirza and Bopanna, a 6-2 winner over Alja Tomlajanovic and Huey.

The Mavericks did not lose a match at the Mall of Asia Arena, beating the UAE Royals, 29-18, Japan Warriors, 25-21, and the Indian Aces, last year’s champions, 25-24.

But in the absence of Williams and Raonic, the Mavericks failed to keep up in New Delhi, and would be hard-pressed to beat the Singapore Slammers in their own match scheduled last night.

Williams is no longer required to suit up for the Mavericks in the New Delhi leg and the succeeding stops in Dubai and Singapore after playing in Kobe, Japan and Manila.

Raonic, on the other hand, has begged off due to back problems, just a day after beating Nadal in Manila.

Also Thursday night, the Japan Warriors finally broke into the win column with a surprise 24-21 win over the UAE Royals, tipped as this year’s favorites.

Ana Ivanovic and Goran Ivanisevic scored in ladies’ singles and legends singles. But the rest of the Royals failed to deliver against the Warriors, dropping the men’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.

It was the first victory for the Warriors, the newest team in the IPTL, after five losses.