International Premier Tennis League: Manila Mavericks

International Premier Tennis League: Manila Mavericks – Manila

The Manila Mavericks are one of four teams competing in the 2014 International Premier Tennis League. The head coach of the team is Manila native Treat Huey, who made his name as a doubles specialist on the men’s tour. With team colours of blue, yellow and red in honour of their Philippines association, the solid European core to their team makes them a strong outfit.

The IPTL is a unique tennis competition that follows a league system and some slightly different points scoring. For full information on the format of the IPTL, follow this link to understand what is going on.

Background

In January 2014 the decision was taken for one of the four franchises to compete in the International Premier Tennis League to be based in Bangkok, Thailand. For the inaugural draft in March, players believed they were joining the Bangkok franchise. However, in light of political unrest in Thailand, the decision was taken to move the team.

In June it was announced that Francis Lumen would be the owner of the franchise and that they would be based in Manila, Philipinnes. After the initial draft was made, one of the Manila Mavericks Icon Players, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, withdrew due to injury. The team were able to find a quality replacement soon after in Maria Sharapova.

The Manila Mavericks will play each of the other three teams on four separate occasions and open against the UAE Royals on the 28th November in their home stadium, the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Philippines. This first match-up should see rivalries including Andy Murray against Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova versus Caroline Wonziacki.

Roster

Men

Andy Murray

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Carlos Moyá

Daniel Nestor

Treat Huey

Women

Maria Sharapova

Kirsten Flipkens

Schedule – Manila Mavericks

Match	Date	Venue	Opponent
1	28-Nov	Philippines	UAE Royals
2	29-Nov	Philippines	Indian Aces
3	30-Nov	Philippines	Singapore Slammers
4	02-Dec	Singapore	Singapore Slammers
5	03-Dec	Singapore	UAE Royals
6	04-Dec	Singapore	Indian Aces
7	06-Dec	India	Indian Aces
8	07-Dec	India	UAE Royals
9	08-Dec	India	Singapore Slammers
10	11-Dec	UAE	UAE Royals
11	12-Dec	UAE	Singapore Slammers
12	13-Dec	UAE	Indian Aces

Icon Players

The Brit joins up with the Manila Mavericks for the IPTL on the back of a difficult season by his own admission, although a late fight in the last few months of the tour saw him rise to a year end ranking of number 6 in the world. Whilst this was the first time since 2008 that Murray had finished a year outside of the top four, he has stated his intention to get back to the top of the men’s game.

It will be interesting to see how Murray approaches the IPTL, as he has made it clear that he is looking to make changes to his game ahead of the 2015 season. Whether we will see him being a bit more adventurous in this exhibition league remains to be seen, but with the pressure of it is likely that Murray will play some attacking and attractive tennis.

Maria Sharapova stepped in for the Manila Mavericks to replace the injured Victoria Azarenka and in Sharapova they have possibly the best replacement they could have asked for. Sharapova has had a fantastic year, finishing at number 2 in the world and winning the French Open. She has re-discovered her top form and going into 2015 she will be looking to push Serena Williams for the world number 1 spot.

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