The second annual International Premier Tennis League will begin on Wednesday, December 2 in Kobe, Japan. Five teams are taking part in the IPTL, with the newly-created Japan Warriors hosting the first stop of five.
So what is the IPTL? Straight from the league website:
“The Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) brings together current champions, tennis legends and upcoming talent in a format that’s never been seen before. Created to fulfill the increasing demand for top-level tennis in Asia, it’s the first city-based professional league in the world, played in the respective countries. Four teams participated in the inaugural season that kicked off in 2014 with Micromax Indian Aces walking away as the first ever IPTL winners.”
More than 80 players were part of the pool from which the 2015 draft was conducted on April 12 in Dubai. They were allocated to the five teams–four of which are returning franchises in addition to new Japan squad. The returning teams are the Indian Aces, OUE Singapore Slammers, Philippine Mavericks, and OBI UAE Royals.
Rosters
Japan Warriors: Kei Nishikori, Maria Sharapova, Leander Paes, Marat Safin, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Kurumi Nara
Indian Aces: Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, Fabrice Santoro, Ivan Dodig, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna
Philippine Mavericks: Serena Williams, Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, Sabine Lisicki, Jarmila Gajdosova, Treat Huey, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Mark Philippoussis
Singapore Slammers: Carlos Moya, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova, Marcelo Melo, Nick Kyrgios, Dustin Brown, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray
UAE Royals: Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Ana Ivanovic, Kristina Mladenovic, Goran Ivanisevic, Daniel Nestor
Schedule
*each stop consists of six total matches–two per day for three days
December 2-4: Kobe, Japan
December 6-8: Manila, Philippines
December 10-12: New Delhi, India
December 14-16: Dubai, UAE
December 18-20: Singapore, Malaysia
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Kyrgios-Wawrinka on the same team…….
Pierre hugues Herbert’s Instagram says he’s playing for the Japan warriors… So confused 😕
he probably does
these arent the full rosters
Oooh Stan and nick on same team uh oh.
How can you not like The Royals…Fed and Ana!!!!
!!!!!!
Djokovic has withdrawn from IPTL.
Also pulled out of Abu Dhabi.
Novak was never going to AD this year; the line up was settled a few weeks ago as Rafa, Stan, Ferru, Tsonga, Raonic and Anderson.
Rafa and Raonic were the 2 players featured on the flyer months ago. If Djoko was in the lineup he would have been on the flyer instead of Raonic.
That’s what I meant. He decided some time ago not to play AD.
Rafa will play 2 matches in Manila and 2 in Delhi. He confirmed it in his interview in Madrid on Tuesday (in Spanish).
If, as some have described it, the WTF is a glorified expo the IPTL is a publicity pantomime. I tried hard last year to fathom it out and gave up in dispair.
ed, hope this helps:
Competition format[edit]
All IPTL matches conform to the rules of tennis and code of conduct laid down by the International Tennis Federation. A match comprises five sets each of a different category as follows:
Men’s singles
Women’s singles
Men’s doubles
Mixed doubles
Past champions’ singles
The order of play is decided by the coach of the home team. If two teams are playing at a neutral site, then a coin toss determines which coach chooses the order of play. The first serve in the first set is determined by a coin toss. The team that served last in the last game or tiebreaker of the previous set will receive during the next set.
Each team can call a power point once in each set when receiving serve, and the next point played will count double. Effectively, a player trailing 15–0 can directly get to 15–30 by winning the power point.
Games are played to four points using no-ad scoring. Each game won by a player or doubles team adds one point to the team’s score in the match. The team with the most points at the end of the five sets wins the match. Each set is won when a team is the first to reach six games won. If the score is five-games-all, a timed five-minute shoot-out will be played. The player or doubles team leading at the end of five minutes wins the set.
If the team that wins the fifth set is leading the match, the match is over. If the score is tied after one team has won the fifth set, a timed seven-minute men’s singles super shoot-out is played. The result counts as a game point won. If the team that wins the fifth set is trailing in the match, the match will go to sudden-death overtime effectively extending the fifth set. If the leading team wins one game in overtime, it wins the match tie. If the trailing team wins enough games in overtime to tie the match score without losing a game, a timed seven-minutte men’s singles super shoot-out is played to decide the winner of the match tie. A coin toss decides who serves first in super shoot-outs.
During IPTL matches, a shot clock keeps track of the countdown between points and during the change overs. There will be a maximum of 20 seconds between each game point and a maximum of three minutes between each set.
Each team can call for a coach’s time out once during each set. Each time out is limited to a maximum duration of 60 seconds.
Each team can make one player substitution per set except a team with the overall match lead in the final set. If a player on a team with the overall match lead gets injured during the fifth set, he or she cannot be replaced. The team trailing in the match is credited with enough games won to tie the overall match score and send it to a super shoot-out. Players removed from a set for a substitute may play in later sets in the match.
The team that wins a match tie has four points added to its total in the team standings. If the losing team accumulates at least 20 game points, it receives two points in the team standings. If the losing team accumulates at least 10 but less than 20 game points, it receives one point in the team standings. Losing teams that earn less than 10 game points do not receive any points in the team standings.
The team with the most points throughout the season is declared the IPTL champion. In the event that two or more teams share the highest points on the final tally, the criteria to decide the champion are
Head-to-head results
Number of games won
Number of games lost
Biggest games margin in any single match win
Coin toss
The IPTL champions will receive the IPTL Challenge Trophy along with a grand prize of US$1,000,000.[14]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Premier_Tennis_League
those are last year’s rules
Dang kyrgios played really well I know it’s an exho but still he hit 15 winners and 2 unforced errors and crushed berdych 6-2
I’d like to like Kyrgios because he has incredible raw talent.
But he needs to mature a whole lot for that to happen. Not sure he ever will. Monfils never could get his head on straight.
he hit a pretty sick forehand that he posted on his Instagram
Saw that too. It was destroyed. I don’t even care that his attitude hasn’t been the greatest he seems to be getting better and imo he’s a boss.
Good for the game
Not when he can only turn it on 10% of the year.
A boss is a full time job.
IS Ray Rice “good for the game”?
Was Sean Avery “good for the game”?
That’s all I will say on the matter.
Man needs to grow up.
May help Rafa speed up his serve with a forced 20 second shot clock.
Wow! The site has been totally revamped! I had some trouble logging back in.
its work in progress
Why is my comment awaiting moderation? I had to register again to get on the site. This is confusing!
test
Head scratch. Another site revamp to master
it will be worth it!
Whoops. My first mistake was to inadvertently give my full name instead my screen name.
If the IPTL is in exho with its own set of rules does this mean it is is not responsible in any way to the ATP or ITF?
I can understand the attraction for the lower ranked players but why the already hard pressed financially secure top players give up their precious free time is a mystery unless it’s their sponsors who put pressure on them to do so.
#Another head scratching moment
ed, the top players are paid money you can’t refuse in appearance fees.
Ricky, have you got rid of the Social Page’?
They introduced Dustin Brown as the player who beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon. I mean, why can’t they give it a rest? No wonder Rafa has a target on his back; there is so much to be gained by beating him. Djoker, Fed or Murray don’t seem to have that effect.
That’s because Fedole rarely lose to one hit wonders in slam early rounds.
If Stakhovsky played IPTL or similar, his defeat over Fed at Wimbledon would be mentioned in his intro.
The only reason Brown is invited to IPTL is because of his credentials for beating Rafa. Why is Stakhovsky not invited?
no, Brown is box office
Only since he beat Rafa. Brown wasn’t invited last year, was he? He hadn’t beaten Rafa then.
Melo, Pouille and Huey were invited last year just to name a few and they never beat Rafa.
Imagine that!
Somebodies are NObodies to the crowd without mentioning Rafa! 😆
No more social pages???
Now we will have nothing left to discuss except tennis.
Hilarious!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
I wonder whether the IPTL is tennis…
gosh this place looks different! no rafa page?? how will people be able to insult each other on a regular basis? will these threads suffice?
amy, at least there won’t be any pictures of Nole posted on Rafa’s page by hawkeye for your pleasure.
nadline10 (AT 3:40 PM)
http://moopz.com/assets_c/2012/06/emoji-thumbs-up-150-thumb-48×48-140616.jpg
nadline10 (AT 3:40 PM),
😀
Looks like no pictures of anybody anywhere.
Loving it.
pages will be back soon
what a bunch of spoilsports you are!! those pics were greeaat…not to mention the frequent pics of fed’s chest…
have not got over my withdrawal symptoms for all that eye-candy…
LOL
You’ll have to live with links from now on it seems.
#YoureWelcome
#GloryDays
this place is definitely better without the endless rafa selfies and unwelcome close-ups of his posterior though no?? is really quite nice that it looks like a tennis site rather than an episode of Hello magazine..
sorry…edition not episode…feels like one sometimes…
Couldn’t agree more Amy. Like a breath of fresh air. Same as Tennis-X in that regard. Pages load much faster without any crashing on mobile devices also.
Kudos to Ricky!
Look who is talking about slowing down loading pages – The King of Gifs.
More than happy to retire @nadline10!!! 🙂
Besides I wasn’t the King but there was certainly a Queen.
(I was just the Humb1e court jester.)
amy (AT 4:10 PM)
—this place is definitely better without the endless rafa selfies—
===
.
Djoko & Fed fans/rescuers* have been repeating for a long time that they:
– have admired pictures of Djoko& Fed on Rafa’s page(s);
– can’t stand pictures of Rafa on his page(s).
*Posters who let themselves get brainwashed by PR machines that are diminishing Rafa – no matter what (Reading comments here, I made a conclusion that one of the “machines” seems to be Tennis-X).
LOL
amy ( AT 3:56 PM),
—those pics [Djoko] were greeaat…not to mention the frequent pics of fed’s chest…—
===
.
No pleasure to YOU anymore ! 🙁
We should have editing facilities if we are going to have a change to the site at all.
Seems like a lot of camaraderie in IPTL as seen here so often lacking on the tour…
http://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=media%2Fgettyphoto%2F2014%5C12%5C04%5C459930364.jpg
Looks like no IPTL for Canada this year. Too bad. I really enjoyed watching it during the holidays last year.
http://www.iptlworld.com/broadcasters
no page to post this on so will post it here:
delpo is back hitting backhands….am so hoping that we can see him play again!!
#come back delpo!
imagine what a healthy delpo could do for the tour!! has the game to challenge nole….
he is dinking those backhands……
you’d expect him to start off cautiously…
am aware that i may be engaging in wishful thinking but the tour really needs a player of his calibre and likeability…is all so so-so atm…
starting off??? This comeback attempt is four years in the making now!
His last (third) surgery was over five months ago!
Is that a fact or an opinion?
Here’s Dinky!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB4QA79BET0
Well we can still embed youtube video after all for sure, no?
hawkeye, you wouldn’t be able to post embedded youtube on the dysfunctional tennis site now would you? Don’t knock the facilities on The Grandstand.
I’d prefer not to be able to embed media here TBH.
thanks hawks…what’s with those shorts?? very bizarre looking…
Wow. Didn’t notice that.
Those shorts are uglier than Stan’s. Maybe he wants to win the French Open.
hahaha hawks…they are dreadful…maybe rafa should get some to help him at RG….
# it’s the shorts that count most…
@ 4:39 PM & @4:42 PM,
Oh, “moving” pictures of Delpo come from a poster, who can’t stand Rafa’s pictures and he gets thanked by another poster, who can’t stand Rafa’s pictures! Nothing new! LOL
No, those shorts should be banned from all tennis courts amy.
I was asking myself the same question. He has always hitched them up while playing. Never understood why, if they hamper his movement, he doesn’t adopt the shorter length some players wear these days i.e. Rafa. Might be worth suggesting to the ATP there is a regulation length each year. However I dont fancy a return to the Bjorg/Cash/Rafter knicker length 🙂
amy,
It’s good to know that Delpo is back!
nny, i sure hope so!! such a great guy with a great game….
I am not sure where to post what! After reading the most recent comments, are we not going to have any pictures posted? Just links?
It’s new and different, but looks more like a real tennis site!
you can post the same stuff, it will just be easier when the specific player pages are back up
Ricky,
Okay. I was just going to ask you if we will have the player pages on the new site.
Thanks!
not sure what is going on..but i welcome the lack of rafa selfies…
+++++++++++1
amy, that’s the whole point of posting things where they belong. If only Rafa’s stuff were posted on his page then you wouldn’t need to go there as you don’t want to see pictures of him you can go straight to Djoker’s page and leave Rafa’s fans to enjoy his page in peace.
Not all Rafans want to see endless selfies, photos, videos.
Some would like to see less of that and more uncluttered discussion of Rafa and his tennis on his page.
Most people are able to get the rest if desired with google and social media sites such as twitter or on one of the many dedicated Rafa fan sites.
nadline10 DECEMBER 3, 2015 AT 5:00 PM
—amy, …If only Rafa’s stuff were posted on his page then you wouldn’t need to go there as you don’t want to see pictures of him you can go straight to Djoker’s page and leave Rafa’s fans to enjoy his page in peace.—
===
Some people just can’t stand Rafa’s popularity – that’s why they can’t stand his pictures. LOL
hawkeye, you can’t speak for Rafa fans.
Neither can you.
hawkeye63 DECEMBER 3, 2015 AT 5:23 PM
—Most people are able to get the rest if desired with google…—
===
And statistics are available in the databases. Everyone can google herself/himself. No need to post…
nadline10 DECEMBER 3, 2015 AT 5:55 PM
—hawkeye, you can’t speak for Rafa fans—
===
.
If my memory serves me correctly, hawk and amy are Djoko fans. They have written themselves. That’s obviously the reason why one bombed Rafa’s pages with Djoko’s pictures and the other praised him for doing this. LOL
Of course they can. But I expand on statistics and give opinions. The statistics are a means to support an opinion or an idea about tennis or a tennis player.
augusta and nadline
i see you have ignored the serious point i made in there which is that i don’t want to see pictures of rafa’s behind and people ogling over it…
as far as i am concerned that is very disrespectful to him – if you want to treat him like a piece of meat then be my guest…
actually the endless posting of photos of him is quite demeaning anyway as it reduces him to the level of an object.
i see him as a person first and foremost who should be treated with respect.
thats enough. I will decide whether or not the photos become too many in number or offensive in nature.
the offseason is not going to be used to discuss stuff like this. Either talk about ehat happened in 2015 or what might happen in 2016…. Or the IPTL.
^^^Boom!
#DropTheMic
this
@ 6:12 PM
—Of course they can.—
===
.
Great. Let them do it from now on. No numbers anymore!
You cherry picked a phrase from my post taking it out of context.
(something that can’t be done with a selfie)
#NothingNew
amy (AT 6:16 PM),
—augusta and …
…i don’t want to see pictures of rafa’s behind…is very disrespectful to him – if you want to treat him like a piece of meat then be my guest…
actually the endless posting of photos of him is quite demeaning anyway as it reduces him to the level of an object.
i see him as a person first and foremost who should be treated with respect.
===
.
I have never thought that thousands photographers who took photos of tennis-players treat them as “a piece of meat”. It’s a weird way of thinking…
Photos carry information! I see Rafa as a person, not a tennis-ball machine! And I treat Rafa as a Rafan – with respect, not as a Djoko fan, who can’t stand Rafa’s popularity. I don’t mind that you are Djoko fan, but, as it’s already written, he has his own fan-page.
The End of this topic.
.
Rafa will play his first match in the IPTL on Dec.7.
It’s excessive fluff and adds nothing especially when coupled with your judgements on other posters here.
The end of this topic.
Raonic lost to Kyrgios in the IPTL today.
That’s too bad.
If we’ll be able to embed media again, then you should drop the number of comments per page again. I’ve noticed that all comments appear on a single page with the new layout.
Nativenewyorker DECEMBER 3, 2015 AT 4:45 PM
—looks more like a real tennis site!—
===
.
The discussion about Delpo’s and Stan’s shorts (AT 4:42 PM, AT 4:44 PM, AT 4:46 PM) is certainly a characteristic feature of a real tennis site. LOL
Test
Ricky@6.19pm
I cant watch the IPTL in France so can’t discuss it. Watched the highlights which were incomrehensible 🙁
But it is end of term so a little bit of frivolity is permissable, no?
There’s actually a lot to like about the IPTL format along with the obvious knocks.
It’s very fast paced which I like.
But, like France, it’s not available here either sadly.
So Ricky, what is the Social Page for if it’s not for talking about players on a social level? Even TW has fan pages.
amy asks hawkeye for more pictures of Novak fully dressed or not, but complains about pictures of Rafa. I know it sounds a bit childish for grown-ups to be arguing over players they don’t know but just because amy prefers Djokovic doesn’t mean that she should disapprove of those of us who prefer Rafa and then keep moaning about it. Each to their own.
Social is for the same thing its been for. Arguing about something other than tennis is not one of those things.
nadline10, it’s clear that you prefer Nole because you can’t stop talking about him.
In terms of Social Page, talking about him is great. Endless pictures and selfies not so much.
that’s enough
Sky is showing IPT but I haven’t been able to concentrate on watching it so don’t really know what’s going on, maybe I will tomorrow when I have more time to concentrate on it. Serena lost to someone I have never heard of. No matter what the scores are during the match, the final score always seems to be 6:4.
The one saving grace is that they get no points unlike the WTF fiasco.
ATP/ITF should be happy about IPTL and having free marketing in new areas for tennis instead of complaining.
Watched the Kyrgios/Berdych highlights.
Kyrgios with amazing power on his forehand seemingly effortless. Great touch as well.
To date, he’s been unable to sustain it unless well rested.
Two years in a row now, he’s fizzled mid to late season.
It’s a shame Sampras and Agassi aren’t there again this year but shouldn’t be a big surprise as both looked completely out of place and uncomfortable last year in their respective matches.
I’m thinking that they were probably the oldest senior competitors at least in mens singles.
Nice new website layout. And wow NK continues to impress. I feel like he’s gonna make some more waves in 2016. Also where’s fed? I thought he is on the UAE Royals.
The big guns like Fedal aren’t committed to playing in every team match/city – usually just two.
Other than a win over Fed in Madrid and a QF appearance in Australia thanks to a soft draw, Kyrgios certainly didn’t make many waves in terms of tennis results in 2015 going just 24-19 and finishing at No. 30.
A lot of raw talent but at 20 years of age, he better start making his move in terms of commitment and maturity pretty soon or it will likely be wasted.
Kyrgios can retire now he’s got a meal ticket for life.