IPTL: Milos Raonic aces Rafael Nadal

MANILA: It was as close as it gets. Unfortunately, there had to be a loser.

 

When Rafael Nadal tamely sent a forehand long on the deciding 13th point of the tie-break in men's singles, it broke the deadlock to give Milos Raonic a 6-5 win and Philippine Mavericks a 25-24 verdict over Indian Aces in the final match of IPTL's Manila leg.

 

After Serena Williams beat Sam Stosur 6-3 to tie the clash of the table-toppers at 19 games apiece, Nadal and Raonic stepped on to the court in what would be a winner-take all finale. And both men played their hearts out to make it the most memorable tie of IPTL's second season thus far.

 

The 6-ft-5 Raonic, flaunting a big serve and a matching forehand, drew first blood to break Nadal with a backhand crosscourt winner. With Nadal struggling to return Raonic's serve, the Canadian was in command at 4-2. Rafa, typically, hung on and waited for an opening. It came when his team opted for a `power point' at 40-30 on Raonic's serve in Game 7. Nadal stepped in to a second serve and let rip to catch the Canadian off guard on the half-volley and break back.

 

Raonic upped the tempo to break Rafa again and as he served for the set at 5-4, it was the world No. 5 Spaniard's turn to show his mettle. He broke back a second time with the shot of the set -a running forehand down-the-line winner.

 

There was nothing to choose between the two in the tie-break, till Rafa mistimed that final return.

 

Nadal put on a show in men's doubles too. Showing great reflexes and magical touch at the net, coupled with his fleetfooted retrievals, Nadal won three incredi ble points in the set which he and Marcelo Melo took 6-4 against Richard Gasquet and Edouardo Roger-Vasselin.The Indian duo of Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna played their part well to clinch the mixed doubles set at the expense of Serena and Treat Huey. But Raonic spoilt their hopes of going into the home leg in Delhi with three straight wins.

 

BERDYCH WINS IT FOR ROYALS:

 

The first tie, too, went down to the wire, though it wasn't as dramatic as the night match. It was world No. 6 Tomas Berdych's power-packed forehand which won the day for the UAE Royals over Singapore Slammers. Going into the final set with a wafer-thin 20-19 advantage, Berdych prevailed 6-4 over Nick Kyrgios to give the Royals their first win in Manila.