Dubai: Indian Aces, the winners of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), will be led by former World No.1 men’s singles player Rafael Nadal and current World No.1 women’s doubles player Sania Mirza.
The Indian Aces will also have Agnieszka Radwanska, Gael Monfils, Ivan Dodig, Rohan Bopanna and Fabrice Santoro, all of whom were taken by the New Delhi-based franchise in the global player draft for the second edition, scheduled from December 2 to 20, which was held here on Sunday.
Nadal had missed his date with the Aces in last season due to an injury which forced him to withdraw from the competition.
Also, Japan was announced as the fifth country of the tournament, who will field ‘Japan Warriors’.
“We started off to an exciting beginning in 2014. The first edition was a resounding success in terms of player and fan acceptance. TV and digital audiences enjoyed a very high level of competition and we have set a high bar for ourselves. We are confident of building on the success of last year to come back with a bigger and better product in 2015,” IPTL founder Mahesh Bhupathi said. Leander Paes, Indian doubles ace, will make his IPTL debut with the Japanese franchise.
“Tennis is on a tremendous growth path in Asia led by Japan. The country boasts of three men’s players in the top-100. Japan coming on board as the fifth Asian country led by their top star Nishikori, proves that the league is on the right path.”
