Raonic puts exclamation point on PH Mavs’ impressive home stint

MANILA, Philippines — It was a familiar scenario for the Philippine Mavericks’ Milos Raonic. 

A tennis racket in hand, his hair tucked back and Rafael Nadal.

Only this time, the crowd was behind him. Only, it’s the International Premier Tennis League. Only this time, a win by him would decide the outcome of this of a three-day homestand that has been spotless in the last two days.

The game would go down to a shootout. And for the young Canadian, the key to his victory over one of the most celebrated tennis players of all time was execution.

“There are certain things about Rafa you want to stay away from,” Raonic bared. “You want to keep points short.”

And he did so, digging his way out of a 3-6 hole and then eventually forcing a shootout.

“You don’t want to let him control points too much,” he shared. “Even with the serious games I lost — I was making unfortunate mistakes. But I stray to stay to my game.”

“I stuck to the things I believe I do best, and just tried to execute,” he added.

Raonic, who once peaked at 14th in the world, fired three aces which Nadal was unable to respond to. He registered 13 winners to make up for his 16 unforced errors.

After 37 minutes of a pulsating exchange, Raonic scripted a tie break, a sweep and dealt the league-leading Aces their first loss in the tournament.

And oh, he managed to spoil Nadal’s league debut, as well, even if some people in the crowd secretly rooted for him.

“I had to adjust. He did a great job fighting back. It’s a nice ending for this swing in Manila,” Raonic, who also happens to be a Davis Cupper like Treat Huey, said.

“It was a lot of fun to compete in this atmosphere.”

The Mavericks are currently at the second spot with five matches played. They are behind the Indian Aces going into the latter’s home turf.

The IPTL resumes action in New Delhi on December 10 through 12.