Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal made his first appearance before a Filipino crowd worthwhile.
Nadal, the 14-time Grand Slam winner, played in two sets and won both, including a back-and-forth battle with Tomas Berdych in the men’s singles that capped off the Indian Aces’ 30-18 drubbing of the UAE Royals.
The former world No.1 overcame a 3-nil deficit and survived Berdych in a shootout, 7-3 with the crowd rallying behind him.
“It has been a great afternoon and a lot of crowd behind me supporting. I’m just very happy to be here in the Philippines for the first time in my life,” Nadal told reporters.
Former world No.1 Rafael Nadal waves to the crowd during the introduction of players Monday in the second day of the 2015 IPTL Manila leg at Mall of Asia Arena. Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
It was Nadal’s first time to see action in the IPTL, but his inexperience didn’t show as he plunged into action in the fourth set to team up with Ivan Dodig in men’s doubles. Nadal and Dodig easily beat the Royals’ pair of Berdych and Daniel Nestor, 6-3.
“In a format like this it makes the matches so interesting, so quick and I really had a lot of fun,” said Nadal.
The Aces, actually swept the Royals with Dodig also downing Goran Ivanisevic, 6-3, in legend’s singles.
Nadal’s teammates noticed his quick grasp of the IPTL’s unconventional format.
“It’s just been fun. He (Nadal) fit in really quickly and understood everything real fast,” said Sam Stosur, who disposed of Kristina Mladenovic, 6-3, in women’s singles.