Roger Federer joins UAE Royals in IPTL

MANILA, Philippines -- The UAE Royals strengthened their roster in their bid to win the second season of the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) by adding one of the greatest tennis players of all time and current world number two Roger Federer. 

Federer joins a star-studded Royals team that already include 2001 Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanisevic, the 2008 French Open winner and current world no. 7 Ana Ivanovic, 2014 Australian Open and 2013 Wimbledon Champion Kristina Mladenovic, 88-time men's double title winner Daniel Nestor and 2010 Wimbledon Championship finalist Tomas Berdych. 

On top of snagging Federer, the Royals also welcomed a new co-owner in Virat Kohli, India’s current test cricket captain. 

“I have always followed tennis with great interest and today I am glad to be part of a professional tennis league team,” said Kohli in an official statement emailed to Philstar.com.

“I am a huge fan of Roger Federer and with him joining the UAE Royals, my decision to be on board with the team was firm. The UAE Royals feature some of tennis’ greatest players and I am confident about the prospects of the team in the IPTL. I am also excited about the format of the IPTL, which I am sure will drive further interest in the game of tennis," added Kohli in the press conference on Thursday in Dubai that was attended by Mahesh Bhupathi, Managing Director - IPTL; Neelesh Bhatnagar and Sachin Gadoya, co-owners UAE Royals and Praveen Bhatnagar,CEO UAE Royals.

Federer is slated to showcase his world-class talent in the UAE leg of the league which will be held from December 14-16 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.

“UAE is fast getting recognized as a global sporting hub and the country has already hosted several internationally reputed events. With the participation of UAE Royals in the IPTL, we have now succeeded in bringing a unique and exciting format of tennis that will certainly add impetus to UAE being recognised as a key sports destination,” said Neelesh Bhatnagar. “With Roger Federer in our team and Virat Kohli on board, the UAE Royals have much to celebrate in the second season of IPTL.”

The Royals will be up there as one of the favorites in the five-team field composed of defending champion Indian Aces, the Philippine Mavericks,  the Singapore Slammers and the expansion team Japan Warriors. 

“UAE has tremendous tennis following and we are excited to be back in the country with the second edition of the IPTL,” said Mahesh Bhupathi, IPTL’s Founder and Managing Director. “Fans in the UAE and world over have embraced the innovative and unique format of the IPTL and we have hence made the event bigger in 2015. With Roger joining the UAE Royals, we are confident that tennis fans in the UAE will come out to support their team in great numbers.”

The IPTL, reaching TV audiences in over 125 countries, was established with the aim to ‘break the code’ of the traditional tennis format, with single-set, no-ad scoring to speed up the games. This will enable fans to witness 20 top players competing in one evening in various match-ups consisting of singles, doubles, mixed-doubles and legends sets. Other unique facets will again feature prominently in this year’s edition, including Happiness PowerPoints, Shoot-outs, a running shot clock and exciting in-game live music and entertainment.

Aside from Dubai, the IPTL will have stops in Japan (Dec. 2-4), Philippines (Dec. 6-8), India (Dec. 10-12) and Singapore (Dec. 18-20). 

Meanwhile, current world no.1 Serena Williams and another tennis all-time great Rafael Nadal have been confirmed to play in Manila at the Mall of Asia Arena. 

Tickets to the Manila leg are pegged at P58,500 (VIP), P46,000 (Patron), P26,000 (Lower Box), P13,600 (Upper Box) and P3,000 (Gen Ad) for the three-day tennis extravaganza. Fans can avail huge discounts by buying their tickets now through the Early Bird Promo rates that are pegged at  P49,000 (VIP), P40,000 (Patron), P23,000 (Lower Box), P11,600 (Upper Box) and P2,600 (Gen Ad).