MANILA - World number one Serena Williams is being called upon to do the heavy lifting and rescue her struggling Singapore Slammers team at the inaugural International Premier Tennis League tournament.

Daniela Hantuchova, who has been filling in for Serena for the Slammers’ women’s singles slot, has had a miserable outing so far, managing to collect just one point from her two outings.

After her 6-0 demolition by Indian Aces’ Ana Ivanovic on Friday, Hantuchova fared marginally better against UAE Royals’ replacement player Kristina Mladenovic, losing 6-1.

“We’re really excited about Serena coming. She’s an international superstar.... Everyone here in Manila is pretty pumped up and our team has been talking about it,” their Australian coach Josh Eagle said yesterday.

Organisers said the American superstar was set to play Kirsten Flipkens of the Manila Mavericks on Sunday as the Manila leg of this year’s IPTL tournament ends. She will also play in the mixed doubles.

“She’s been sending us text messages. She’s really excited about going in,” Eagle told a news conference.

The IPTL tour, which will also have stops in Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai next month, has a team format with ties consisting of five one-set matches, with no advantages. The first to six games wins.

A 20-second shot-clock between points guarantees quick play, and at 5-5, players go into a timed shoot-out in which they must accumulate the most points before time is up.

Players receiving a serve can also call a “happiness power point” once per set, meaning the next point will count double.

There wasn’t much happiness for the Singapore team though, as they managed to win only one match on Friday as world number seven Tomas Berdych teamed up with rising Australian Nick Kyrgios to beat the Aces’ men’s doubles pair, Gael Monfils and Rohan Bopanna.

The Slammers’ fortune was as dire yesterday as Berdych promptly lost to reigning US Open champion Marin Cilic 4-6 in the first match of their tie against the UAE Royals.

And while they managed to win the men’s and mixed doubles, Hantuchova’s one-sided defeat and Goran Ivanisevic’s win over Pat Rafter, ensured UAE Royals won comfortably 28-22.

Eagle said the 31-year-old Hantuchova had recently changed coaches, taking former Li Na and Justine Henine mentor Carlos Rodriguez, and was still adjusting.

“She’s made a few technical changes in the last couple of weeks and she was probably struggling a little bit with confidence,” he said of the Slovak.

“She’s a great player. She’ll be back. She’ll be fine.”