What is the IPTL?
A brainchild of Indian doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi, the team competition has attracted some of the sport’s biggest names such as Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. They will represent four franchisee-owned teams: Manila Mavericks, Singapore Slammers, Indian Aces and the UAE Royals.
What is the format?
Each tie will consist of five single-set matches: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and past champion singles. Each game won will be worth one point and the team that has won the greater number of games at the end of those five matches will be the winner of the tie. If both teams have won the same number of games, the winner will be decided by a seven-point “shoot-out”.
There will be a shot clock to make sure players take no more than 20 seconds between points. A maximum of three minutes will be allowed between matches.
A victory earns a team four points in the group table, while losing a match despite winning at least 20 games gives a team two points. A loss while winning between 19 and 10 games is worth one point.
What is the story so far?
The Indian Aces lead the points table having won six of their nine matches heading into Dubai’s final leg of the series. They have 30 points (four points for each of their six wins and six points for losing while winning at least 20 games). The UAE Royals will hope home advantage pays off as they are just three points back, along with the Manila Mavericks. The Singapore Slammers are out of it with just 17 points.
[ Schedule: ]
Action starts on Thursday December 11 and runs until Saturday December 13.
Thursday
Indian Aces v Singapore Slammers, 4pm
UAE Royals v Manila Mavericks, 7.30pm
Friday
Manila Mavericks v Singapore Slammers, 4pm
UAE Royals v Indian Aces, 7.30pm
Saturday
Manila Mavericks v Indian Aces, 4pm
UAE Royals v Singapore Slammers, 7.30pm
Where:
The action is at the Hamdan Sports Complex in Dubai which is situated on the outskirts of Dubai on Emirates Road (Old Dubai Bypass Road E611), just after Exit 37 if you are heading northbound. Coming South, you take Exit 36 and uturn. The venue can also be reached by leaving Exit 30 on the E311 and taking the D63 Al Qudra Road to reach the E611.
Visit www.hamdansc.com for more information
Tickets:
Call 04 264 8717 or visit www.ticketmaster.ae
The teams (individual records include doubles matches and overall games in parenthesis):
UAE Royals 5-4
Novak Djokovic (Serbia) world No 1 – 0-2-1 (16-18)
Marin Cilic (Croatia) world No 9 – 8-5 (65-62)
Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) world No 8 – 1-2 (16-16)
Goran Ivanisevic (Croatia) 2001 Wimbledon champion – 5-3 (42-36)
Malek Jaziri (Tunisia) No 1 Arab player – 0-2 (4-12)
Nenad Zimonjic (Serbia) world No 3 doubles – 7-12 (86-94)
Kristina Mladenovic (France) world No 67 – 8-7 (74-67)
Manila Mavericks 5-4
Andy Murray (Great Britain) world No 6 – 2-4 (27-30)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) world No 12 – 10-5 (83-60)
Maria Sharapova (Russia) world No 2 – 1-3 (14-23)
Carlos Moya (Spain) 1998 French Open champion – 0-1 (5-6)
Daniel Nestor (Canada) world No 4 doubles – 6-3 (41-35)
Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) world No 45 – 5-9 (56-67)
Treat Huey (Philippines) world No 50 doubles – 5-2 (38-26)
*Mark Philippoussis (Australia) 2 grand slam runner-ups – 7-0 (42-24)
Indian Aces 6-3
Roger Federer (Switzerland) world No 2 – 4-1-1 (32-22)
Gael Monfils (France) world No 18 – 9-5 (69-58)
Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) world No 5 – 6-3 (49-32)
Pete Sampras (United States) 14 grand slam titles – 0-1 (2-6)
Fabrice Santoro (Fance) 2006 Australian Open quarter-finalist – 5-1 (33-20)
Rohan Bopanna (India) world No 30 doubles – 9-6 (70-63)
Sania Mirza (India) world No 6 doubles – 6-5 (48-46)
*Cedric Pioline (Frace) 2 grand slam runner-ups – 0-2 (8-12)
Singapore Slammers 2-7
Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) world No 7 – 5-5 (52-47)
Serena Williams (United States) world No 1 – 5-3 (37-39)
Andre Agassi (United States) 8 grand slam titles – 0-2 (5-12)
Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) world No 63 – 4-6 (38-51)
Lleyton Hewitt (Australia) world No 50 – 1-8 (23-53)
Nick Kyrgios (Australia) world No 52 – 5-10 (57-80)
Pat Rafter (AUS) 2 grand slam titles – 1-6 (26-38)
Bruno Soares (Brazil) world No 10 doubles – 0-2 (7-12)
Any other angles?
The IPTL could spice up the sport with innovations, such as a seven-point tiebreaker at 5-5 instead of 6-6, and a “power point”.
Each team can call a power point once in each single-set match when on the receiver’s side and the next point played will count double.
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE