Dubai: The Obi UAE Royals will be looking at home support and their marquee signing Roger Federer to put their derailed campaign back on track in the second season of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) at the Dubai Tennis Stadium from December 14-16.
After a great start to the competition in Japan and the Philippines, the UAE Royals lost both their encounters at a packed stadium in New Delhi over the weekend. Expected to make the difference for the UAE Royals was Federer as he faced former world number one Rafael Nadal.
And though the Swiss ace disappointed on both counts – the Obi UAE Royals are still hanging in at third position on the five-team table.
Playing alongside Marin Cilic, Federer went down to Nadal and Rohan Bopanna 6-4 in the men’s doubles and then went down 7-4 in the shoot-out to lose 6-5 to Nadal in the men’s singles.
After the first three stops of the five, it is the Micromax Indian Aces who are in pole position to defend their title with a winning percentage of 57.7 after winning six of the seven encounters they have played so far. In second are the Oue Singapore Slammers with four wins out of seven and a win percentage of 51, while the Obi UAE Royals are chasing one of the two spots in next week’s finale in Singapore on December 20.
This year, the Obi UAE Royals will be playing an extra match due to the odd number of teams in the competition. However, the good thing is that the Obi UAE Royals can drop their score on any one match through the season, provided they inform of their intent soon after the match is completed.
They UAE Royals have already chosen to drop their score on the match played against the Philippine Mavericks played in Manila on December 6. The score for the Philippine Mavericks, however, counts towards their win percentage.
While Nadal walked away with all the honours in New Delhi, the attention this week, however, will revert to the clash between Andy Murray and Federer when the home team takes on the Oue Singapore Slammers on December 15.
Tickets have been selling at a brisk pace, and with the added attraction of Team India cricket captain Virat Kohli expected to attend and root for his UAE Royals team, the Dubai Tennis Stadium is going to witness a sellout crowd once again.
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FIXTURES
December 14: (4 pm) Micromax Indian Aces vs Legendari Japan Warriors; (7.30 pm) Obi UAE Royals vs Philippine Mavericks
December 15: (4 pm) Philippine Mavericks vs Micromax Indian Aces; (7.30 pm) Obi UAE Royals vs Oue Singapore Slammers
December 16: (4 pm) Micromax Indian Aces vs Oue Singapore Slammers; (7.30 pm) Obi UAE Royals vs Legendari Japan Warriors
STANDINGS (After Round 3 held in New Delhi on December 12)
Team MP MW ML GW-GL GW%
Micromax Indian Aces 7 6 1 192-141 57.7
Oue Singapore Slammers 7 4 3 174-167 51.0
Obi UAE Royals 6 3 3 140-142 49.6*
Philippine Mavericks 7 4 3 165-173 48.8
Legendari Japan Warriors 8 1 7 171-208 45.1
Note: MP: Matches Played; MW: Matches Won; ML: Matches Lost; GW-GL: Games Won-Games Lost; GW%: Games Won Percentage.
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