Nadal to play for Mumbai in 2014 IPTL

Originally published on 04/03/14

The IPTL, which is scheduled to take place between November 28 and December 13, will feature 24 matches across the four host cities, Mumbai, Singapore, Bangkok and Dubai.

Nadal and Pete Sampras, who between then have 27 Grand Slam singles titles, were picked for Mumbai in the player draft on Sunday, while Tomas Berdych, Serena Williams and Andre Agassi will play for Singapore.

Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Victoria Azarenka were drafted to play for Bangkok, while Novak Djokovic leads the Dubai team which also features Caroline Wozniacki and Martina Hingis.

"We've got some unbelievably strong teams," said Mahesh Bhupathi, who modelled the IPTL on cricket's Indian Premier League. "I think out of the 28 players that got drafted we have about 21 Grand Slam champions. We have 14 present and past No.1s. It's a pretty blockbuster field."

The format of the competition will be like a tour, which each team playing their three home matches in successive days, starting in Singapore on November 28-30.

Matches will consist of five sets; men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles and legends singles. The home team picks the order on the night of the match. Scoring is one set, no-ad, tie-breaker at 5-All. The winning team is the one that wins the most number of games (not the most number of sets). 

Murray, who has already said he was unwilling to commit to a full schedule, is likely to play his team's home ties in Bangkok from December 2-4 in Bangkok, with three matches in Mumbai scheduled for December 7-9, with the competition finishing in Dubai on December 11-13.

Team Singapore: Home games November 28-30Š—å
Tomas Berdych, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Serena Williams, Bruno Soares, Patrick Rafter, Daniela Hantuchova, Nick Kyrgios

Team Bangkok: Home games December 2-4Š—å
Andy Murray, Jo Wilfred Tsonga, Victoria Azarenka, Daniel Nestor, Carlos Moya, Kirsten Flipkens

Team Mumbai: Home games December 7-9Š—å
Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, Pete Sampras. Rohan Bopanna, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza, Fabrice Santoro

Team Dubai: Home games December 11-13Š—å
Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Goran Ivanisevic, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonic, Malek Jaziri, Martina Hingis

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