Mavs fall to Aces but gain 3rd

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Mavericks fell to holders Micromax Indian Aces, 23-24, but still climbed to third spot in the IPTL Dubai leg on a rainy Tuesday night at Dubai Duty Free Stadium.

The Mavericks (5-4) made some gains despite the setback, hiking their game winning percentage to 49.2 percent (214-221) to move up one notch and close in on second-running OUE Singapore Slammers’ 51.3 percent. The Aces (8-1) maintained their hold of the lead with 57 percent.

The defending titlists edged the Philippine side despite dropping the opening legends singles. Due to the ailment of player-coach Fabrice Santoro, Rohan Bopanna, a non-legend, was forced to fill in for Santoro and won the set over James Blake, 6-0. But because the Aces didn’t have a legend sub, the set was awarded to the Mavericks, 6-0.

Women’s singles player Agniezska Radswana and the mixed pair of Ivan Dodig and Sania Mirza turned the tables around for the Aces, scoring identical 6-4 victories over Ajla Tomljanovic and the tandem of Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Jarmila Gajdosova, respectively, before downpour halted play for about 20 minutes.

After restart, Bopanna and Dodig outlasted Roger-Vasselin and Fil-Am Treat Huey in a men’s double shootout, 6-5, then Bernard Tomic wrapped it all up with a 6-4 disposal of Ivo Karlovic, overcoming nine aces from the towering Maverick player.

The Mavericks took a bye last night in the final day in Dubai and will resume their campaign in the culminating leg in Singapore from Dec. 18-20.