ROGER FEDERER AND RAFA NADAL HEADLINE THE SECOND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PREMIER TENNIS LEAGUE BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 1st December 2015

ROGER FEDERER AND RAFA NADAL HEADLINE THE SECOND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PREMIER TENNIS LEAGUE BY RICKY DIMON

epa05028832 Spain's Rafael Nadal in action against Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka during their singles Ilie Nastase group match during the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 16 November 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

The dog days of December are upon us, but do not fear! Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and plenty of other stars are soon coming to the rescue. That’s because the second annual International Premier Tennis League will begin on Wednesday, December 2 in Kobe, Japan and both Federer and Nadal will be taking part in the proceedings this month.

Novak Djokovic was also part of the initial lineup, but the world No. 1 has since been replaced. Filling in for him, though, are two-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka and recent Davis Cup hero Andy Murray.

Five teams are taking part in the IPTL, with the newly-created Japan Warriors hosting the first stop of five.

So what is the IPTL? Straight from the league website:

“The Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) brings together current champions, tennis legends and upcoming talent in a format that’s never been seen before. Created to fulfill the increasing demand for top-level tennis in Asia, it’s the first city-based professional league in the world, played in the respective countries. Four teams participated in the inaugural season that kicked off in 2014 with Micromax Indian Aces walking away as the first ever IPTL winners.”

More than 80 players were part of the pool from which the 2015 draft was conducted on April 12 in Dubai. They were allocated to the five teams–four of which are returning franchises in addition to new Japan squad. The returning teams are the Indian Aces, OUE Singapore Slammers, Philippine Mavericks, and OBI UAE Royals.

Rosters

Japan Warriors: Kei Nishikori, Maria Sharapova, Leander Paes, Marat Safin, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Kurumi Nara

Indian Aces: Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, Fabrice Santoro, Ivan Dodig, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna

Philippine Mavericks: Serena Williams, Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, Sabine Lisicki, Jarmila Gajdosova, Treat Huey, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Mark Philippoussis

Singapore Slammers: Carlos Moya, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova, Marcelo Melo, Nick Kyrgios, Dustin Brown, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray

UAE Royals: Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Ana Ivanovic, Kristina Mladenovic, Goran Ivanisevic, Daniel Nestor

Schedule

*each stop consists of six total matches–two per day for three days

December 2-4: Kobe, Japan

December 6-8: Manila, Philippines

December 10-12: New Delhi, India

December 14-16: Dubai, UAE

December 18-20: Singapore, Malaysia

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 10sballs.com, IPTL, Rafa Nadal, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

December 1, 2015 at 2:01 pm

-@rogerfederer And @RafaelNadal Headline The Second Annual International Premier Tennis League by @Dimonator
https://t.co/BqFWoeawaJ @iptl
gordont10 says:

December 1, 2015 at 4:07 pm

RT @TennisNewsOne: ROGER FEDERER AND RAFA NADAL HEADLINE THE SECOND ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL PREMIER TENNIS LEAGUE BY RICKY DIMON https://t.co…