Mavericks take over at top of IPTL

Omnisports

December 6, 2015 3:25 AM

The UAE Royals were knocked off the top of the International Premier Tennis League courtesy of a 29-18 loss to the Philippine Mavericks.

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The Philippine Mavericks moved to the top of the International Premier Tennis League on Sunday with a 29-18 victory over the UAE Royals in Manila.

The Royals had won each of their opening two matches in Kobe, but were well beaten on this occasion by a team featuring Serena Williams.

Women's world number one Williams suffered defeat alongside Treat Huey in a mixed doubles match against Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor, but bounced back to beat Ana Ivanovic 6-3 in the subsequent women's singles rubber.

There were also wins for Mark Philippoussis, Milos Raonic and the French double pairing of Richard Gasquet and Edouard Roger-Vasselin as the Mavericks eased to victory.

In Sunday's other contest, the Japan Warriors suffered a fourth defeat from as many matches, going down 29-20 to the Singapore Slammers.

The Warriors lost four out of five rubbers, with Nick Kyrgios claiming singles and mixed doubles wins, the latter alongside Belinda Bencic, for Singapore.

Kyrgios believes he has learned much from a year that has seen him involved in a number of controversial incidents.

"I think I've matured a lot this year and I've learned a lot and I definitely feel that I've grown as a person and as a tennis player," the Australian told reporters.

Omnisports

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