Nadal To Indian Aces,Djokovic to Singapore and Federer To UAE Royal In IPTL ’15

Published 04/12/2015, 4:20 PM EDT

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International Premier Tennis League, the brainchild of Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupati is all set for its second season. Detailed schedule is yet to be announced but 2015 season will kick off on December 2 in Japan and will conclude on December 20th. IPTL drafts were also announced today with the entry of Rafael Nadal in to the mix being the highlight.

The player draft for the 2015 International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) sees a new team created and top stars returning for the second year of the exhibition series.

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Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova are top draft picks once again for the IPTL while Kei Nishikori joined the new Japan Warriors team. Djokovic, Federer, Williams and Sharapova all played in the inaugural 2014 edition of the IPTL, while Nadal was due to appear but had to pull out due to injury.
The 2015 IPTL draft has also seen another team join the league, with the Japan Warriors hosting the first leg of the league beginning 2 December 2015.
Prominent among the new faces joining the IPTL for its 2015 edition are world no. 4 and 2014 US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori; rising WTA Tour star Karolina Pliskova, who is poised to break into the top 20; Indian doubles legend Leander Paes; former Australian and US Open champion Marat Safin; and promising young talents Belinda Bencic and Borna Coric.
The switching of top players, many of whom only played one or two legs of the league in 2014, around the teams ensures that fans who did not get a chance to see them the previous year have a good chance of watching their idols in action in 2015, and underlines the IPTL’s mission statement of bringing top players to locations which do not usually host world-class tennis.

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The Teams:

Indian Aces : Rafael Nadal, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna, Gael Monfils, Fabric Santoro, Ivan Dodig and Agneszka Radwanska

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

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Manila Mavericks: Serena Williams, Sabine Lisciki, Richard Gasquet, Mark Philippoussis, Jarmila Gajdosova, Borna Coric and Treat Huey

Singapore Slammers: Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios, Karolina Pliskova, Carlos Moya, Belinda Bencic, Thanasi Kokkinakis and Marcelo Melo

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Written by:

Harit Pathak

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