Two in a row for Manila Mavericks, beat Singapore Slammers 29-21 in IPTL

Singapore: Manila Mavericks continued their winning spree and defeated hosts Singapore Slammers 29-21 to register their second win over the same outfit in the inaugural Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League, here on Tuesday.

The Slammers slumped to their fourth straight loss in the tournament. Brimming with confidence from their victory over the Slammers in Manila two nights ago, the Mavericks once again proved too strong for the hosts, winning 4 out of 5 sets, giving them 11 points from four matches to go into joint second with the Musafir.Com UAE Royals.

The Slammers picked up two bonus points despite the lost.

In the opening match of the duel, former world no. 1 Andre Agassi went down 3-6 to Mark Phillippoussis. In the men's doubles, Huey and Tsonga overcame Hewitt and Berdych 6-4 to consolidate Maverick's position.

Then world no. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga came from a break down to win a 5-all shoot-out against Tomas Berdych putting the Mavericks ahead 18-12.

Slammers' Serena Williams then paired up with Nick Kyrgios for the mixed doubles but lost the contest 3-6 against Kirsten Flipkens and Daniel Nestor to give Mavericks their fourth win.

Serena, however, registered a consolation win for the Slammers by beating Kirsten Flipkens 6-5 in the final match of the duel. After losing the contest Agassi said: "I feel anything's possible in this format, but the set goes by quick and playing Mark there isn't a lot of time to relax and settle down. I never got comfortable, started to settle down a little late on but it was a little too late, but I did hope to win.

Serena added: "I came into this thinking it was going to be like fun and a blast, and I'm having a fun time and having a blast. I didn't think it was going to be a good preparation like it is but it turns out to be an amazing preparation, it's really perfect.

"After I played in Manila, I was like this is a great way to prepare for the season. I think it's going to grow naturally because a lot of players are supporting it and a lot of players are involved in it. I think it's definitely going to grow."