DUBAI // When the inaugural International Premier Tennis League was announced last year it was met with a fair amount of scepticism and concerns it would be nothing more than a few glorified exhibition matches at the end of an already packed ATP season.
It proved a lot more exciting than that, with fans packing stadiums to watch the world’s best players taking part for the four Asia-based franchises. The players seemed to enjoy it with Serena Williams calling it “one of the best experiences of my life”.
“Last year was our first year and obviously there were a lot of questions asked,” said Mahesh Bhupathi, founder of the IPTL. “We had some teething issues, but overall the league went off pretty well. We had a lot of success in terms of getting the big names to play.”
TEAMS AND FIXTURES: Federer and Ivanovic join UAE Royals for second IPTL season
What was a surprise was that, despite a general air of fun, there was an unexpected intensity to the tennis.
“I think nobody really expected it to be this competitive, to be honest,” said world No 1 Novak Djokovic who led the UAE Royals to second place behind Roger Federer’s Indian Aces. For the 2015 campaign Federer has replaced Djokovic in the Dubai-based team.
Federer will be joined by Croatian legend Goran Ivanisevic, Czech world No 6 Tomas Berdych, Croatia’s women’s world No 7 Ana Ivanovic, France’s Kristina Mladenovic and Canadian doubles specialist Daniel Nestor.
And they are not the only star names lending their weight to the competition that now boasts five teams.
“It is a pleasure for me that this year we have the man in our team that the whole world looks up to, Mr Roger Federer,” said Virat Kohli, new Royals co-owner and India Test cricket captain. “He is the main reason why this association happened. I could not miss this opportunity to interact with him so closely. When I looked at the team I certainly felt we should be lifting the trophy in this coming season.”
Kohli said with the star names on board that the IPTL will be even more competitive, and popular, this year, adding that the team format has played a big part in the competition’s success.
“When you are actually playing live on TV against an opponent you play in the grand slams as well, but in a team environment, the motive is to make the team win,” he said. “It’s that feeling that is making it competitive. When you are in a team environment, which I can relate to, then you get very competitive.
“You cannot help but motivate and cheer for your partners. When your set is over, the game is not over. It’s going to grow even more with transfers happening and players changing teams.”
In the way of the UAE Royals will be holders Indian Aces and Rafael Nadal, Djokovic’s Singapore Slammers, Williams’s Philippine Mavericks and newcomers Japan Warriors who will be led by world No 4 Kei Nishikori.
In the competition’s format, each match consists of five sets; men’s singles, women’s singles, mixed doubles, men’s doubles and a men’s “legends” singles, with the order of play decided by the home team.
The action begins on December 2 with the UAE leg from December 14-16 at the Dubai Aviation Club.
This year’s final round will take place in Singapore.
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