A clash between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is always special given their long rivalry, and come Saturday, the country’s tennis aficionados will be able to see the two megastars in action in their own backyard.
The International Premier Tennis League is back in the capital and the one-of-its-kind event gets under way here on Thursday after successful completion of the Kobe and Manila legs.
Nadal, who made his IPTL debut in Manila, will turn out for local team and defending champions Indian Aces while Federer, who was part of the Aces last year, will play for the UAE Royals.
“I am looking forward to playing in Delhi, my first time here,” Nadal said. “I have played a few times in Chennai. I also have a centre of my foundation in Anantapur, and I’m happy that some children from that centre will be able to come to the games in Delhi.”
Giving Nadal company in the Aces are Gael Monfils, veteran Fabrice Santoro and this year’s French Open doubles champion Ivan Dodig. Also adding to the star-studded lineup is world no. 5 Agnieszka Radwanska, and two of India’s highly successful doubles stars — Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna.
The second edition has the Japan Warriors as an additional franchise to add more spice to the tournament which already has the Aces, UAE Royals, Singapore Slammers and the Manila Mavericks.
“The first season brought some of the world’s biggest tennis stars to cities in Asia for the first time in an all-new format. This year, we have added Japan, and with both Nadal and Kei Nishikori in the mix, it will surely be an exciting prospect,” IPTL founder and managing director Mahesh Bhupathi said.
Leander Paes will be another addition this year. Like Nadal, Paes too had turned down the offer to be part of the IPTL’s inaugural edition. In the second season, however, Bhupathi’s former doubles partner will play for Japan Warriors.
“It is obviously great to have him around this year. There are very few players on the tennis court who can entertain like Leander, and this format is tailor-made for his style of play. When it comes to net play, he is easily the fastest player in the world, so it will be exciting to watch him in action,” Bhupathi said.
The Aces lead the leaderboard after winning three of their four matches in the previous two legs — Japan and the Phillippines — and with home crowd support they will look to put their best foot forward and keep their lead intact.
The Mavericks are second with four wins from five matches while UAE Royals are third with three victories from as many matches.
Aces open against the Mavericks in the third leg on Thursday while in the first match of the day, Japan Warriors take on UAE Royals.
The fans will miss out on watching Novak Djokovic, who was to play for Slammers, as the Serbian has pulled out of the event at the eleventh hour citing fatigue. But other big names in men’s tennis — Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka — and some charming heroes of the past such as Marat Safin and Carlos Moya — will be there.
Former world number one Ana Ivanovic, Australian prodigy Nick Kyrgios are also expected to attract a lot of attention.After Delhi the IPTL bandwagon will move to Dubai before concluding in Singapore.
