Nadal to spearhead Indian Aces' IPTL title defence

Dubai - Spaniard will play long-time rival Federer in Delhi this December.

Rafael Nadal will make his International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) debut in season two of the groundbreaking concept as the marquee player for defending champions the Indian Aces.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion - who was unable to participate in the first edition in 2014 - shall also be involved in an undoubted highlight of five-stop series later this year, when he'll go head-to-head with another all-time great in the UAE Royals' Roger Federer in Delhi on Saturday, December 12th.
Nadal will be joined in the Indian Aces franchise by homegrown doubles stars Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza, Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Fabrice Santoro, Croatia's Ivan Dodig and Agnieszka Radwanska, of Poland.
That all-star line-up has understandably given those closely connected with the team a renewed belief and confidence as well that they can prevail outright once more.
"The Indian Aces will fight hard to retain the title in the second edition of the IPTL and, with Nadal leading the side, we are poised to do well," said Indian Aces co-owner Gulshan Jhurani.
"The team has an effective blend of power hitters, players with guile and finesse and some very effective doubles combinations.
"With such a terrific combination of tennis players, we are confident of retaining the IPTL crown."
The inaugural IPTL season proved a phenomenal success, with the fast-paced, 'code-breaking' format reaching TV audiences in more than 125 countries and captivating sports fans across Asia.
Staying with its original features introduced some 10 months ago now, traditional tennis has been revamped with a single-set, no-advantage scoring to speed up the games.
This, in turn, gives fans in attendance and watching on at home the opportunity to experience - in one evening - competitive tennis between 24 different players across various different match combinations (singles, doubles, mixed doubles and legends sets). Other unique aspects set to make a reappearance include: Happiness PowerPoints, shoot-outs, a running shot clock and exciting, in-game live music and entertainment.
Having been able to recruit top stars like Serena Williams (Philippine Mavericks), Novak Djokovic (Singapore Slammers), Federer (UAE Royals) and the only Asian to play in a Grand Slam final Kei Nishikori this time around too, organisers are expecting a sensational sequel to the original outing.
"Season one of IPTL brought some of the world's biggest tennis stars to cities in Asia for the very first time in an exciting new format. The reception shown by the fans was a revelation," said the IPTL's founder and managing director Mahesh Bhupathi.
"This year, the event will be bigger. We have added a big market in Japan and, with both Nadal and Nishikori playing, fans will be in for a thrilling three weeks. Indian sports lovers have a lot to look forward to in Delhi from (Thursday) December 10 to (Saturday) 12."
Tickets for the India leg of the IPTL season two go on sale from Monday (August 3) on 'Book My Show' and will be available at an enticing early bird discount for a limited duration.
 alex@khaleejtimes.com