MANILA Mavericks playing-coach Treat Huey is not only excited for Filipino fans to experience a world-class tennis action as the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) kicks off on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The three-day extravaganza, undeniably the biggest tennis event to hit the country, will give the national players the opportunity to learn from the world’s best.
Huey said his teammates, PJ Tierro and Johnny Arcilla, will serve as the Manila Mavericks’ hitting partners throughout the Manila leg of the IPTL tournament, which offers a $1-million prize to the winning team.
“We’re all excited to learn from these world-class players. I’m sure we will learn valuable lessons from them,” said Huey, the local member of the Mavericks to be bannered by former world No. 1 Andy Murray of Great Britain and Maria Sharapova of Russia.
“Everybody is excited, not just me but also Johnny and PJ. It’s a great opportunity for us to work with these players and it’s great for Philippine tennis,” said the 28-year-old Filipino-American, whose highest ranking in doubles was at No. 20.
The Manila Mavericks open their IPTL campaign against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Royals of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia and current US Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia.
The 28-year-old Cilic, currently No. 8, will play singles against Murray, the gold medalist in the 2012 London Olympic Games.
“It’s a great opportunity for me to play here. All the players are excited and let’s see how far we will go,” said Cilic, the first Croatian to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open.
Aside from Murray and Sharapova, who arrived on Thursday night, the other members of Manila Mavericks are Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kirsten Flipkens, Daniel Nestor and Carlos Moya.
Tsonga is the only player to have Grand Slam wins each against the Big Four—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Murray and Djokovic.
Moya will suit up in the legends game. The 37-year ols Spaniard was a one-time French Open winner (1998) and has 20 singles titles under his belt.
Kicking off the Manila leg of the IPTL tournament is the match between Singapore Slammers and Micromax Indian Ces at 4 p.m. The Manila Mavericks-UAE Rotale collission is set at 7:30 p.m.
The Singapore Slammers will be bannered by Serena Williams, who will suit up on Sunday in the womens singles, the legendary Andre Agassi and the pretty Daniel Hantuchova.
The Indian Aces will be spearheaded by Federrer, though the 17-time grandslam title s winners won’t suit up in the Manila leg. Ana Ivanovic, the charmer from Serbia is also in the squad.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes