IPTL announce star-studded line-up ahead of Dubai draft

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  • Leading the way: Worlds No1 and 2 Nadal & Djokovic will both compete in the IPTL.

    Top stars including Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Serena Williams have been confirmed as participants in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), after organisers announced a field of 70 players yesterday.

    The IPTL, an exhibition league set to take place from November 28 to December 20 this year, will consist of five franchise teams based in Asian cities – believed to be Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

    A player draft will take place in Dubai at the Oberoi Hotel tomorrow, where team owners will be competing over the players, which have been grouped into categories based on their status, asking fee, and level of commitment to matches.

    Nadal, Djokovic, Murray, Stanislas Wawrinka, and legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, along with WTA stars Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki belong to the category coined ‘Icon Players’.

    The rest of the active players are divided across categories A through D while two more categories are dedicated to past champions and doubles players.  

    Notable absentees from the player field announced are Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova.

    “I just didn't sign up because I didn't want to,” Federer told reporters earlier in the week. “I just first wanted to see it get off the ground. I wanted them to put in the work. They already signed up with a lot of other guys. 

    “I hope it's going to be successful, because there is definitely potential, you know, in the Asian market, so many people live here, a lot of tennis enthusiasts come from this part of the world.”

    Others competing in Dubai this week like Berdych and Djokovic have supported the project with the former calling it “ambitious” and the latter saying it was a “fantastic concept”.

    “It's going to promote tennis in the Asian part of the world,” said Djokovic. “That is a huge market. It's a fun concept. It lets the players enjoy in the court and off the court together. It's something that we don't get to see that much – the kind of concept of the teams.”

    Five-time Grand Slam champion Martina Hingis has been surprisingly placed in Category C alongside the likes of Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova but organisers have explained to Sport360 that it is because of her low asking price and her commitment to a less matches than those in higher categories.

    To understand the IPTL in more detail, check out Sport360's exclusive interview with IPTL CEO Morgan Menahem

    FULL LIST OF PLAYERS

    MEN

    Icon Players:
    Rafael Nadal
    Novak Djokovic
    Andy Murray
    Stanislas Wawrinka
    Andre Agassi
    Pete Sampras 

    Past Champions:
    Patrick Rafter
    Goran Ivanisevic
    Mark Phillipoussis 
    Fabrice Santoro
    Juan Carlos Ferrero
    Rainer Schuettler
    Michael Chang
    Carlos Moya

    Category A:
    Tomas Berdych
    Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
    David Ferrer

    Category B:
    Richard Gasquet
    Milos Raonic
    Tommy Haas
    John Isner
    Gael Monfils
    Lleyton Hewitt

    Category C:
    Jerzy Janowicz
    Philipp Kohlschreiber
    Aleksandr Dolgopolov
    Marcos Baghdatis
    Fabio Fognini
    Feliciano Lopez
    Fernando Verdasco

    Category D:
    Kevin Anderson
    Marinko Matosevic
    Sam Querrey
    Marcel Granollers
    Dmitry Tursunov
    Somdev Devvarman
    Janko Tipsarevic
    Rendy Lu

    Doubles Players:
    Bruno Soares
    Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
    Alexander Peya
    Marcin Matkowski
    Marcelo Melo
    Mariusz Fyrstenberg
    Marc Lopez
    Daniel Nestor
    Rohan Bopanna
    Robert Lindstedt
    Nenad Zimonjic

    WOMEN

    Icon Players:
    Serena Williams
    Victoria Azarenka
    Caroline Wozniacki

    Category A:
    Agnieszka Radwanska

    Category B:
    Ana Ivanovic
    Samantha Stosur
    Sloane Stephens

    Category C: 
    Sara Errani
    Jelena Jankovic
    Angelique Kerber
    Svetlana Kuznetsova
    Martina Hingis
    Daniela Hantuchova

    Category D:
    Sabine Lisicki
    Kirsten Flipkens
    Alize Cornet
    Kristina Mladenovic
    Su-Wei Hsieh
    Francesca Schiavone
    Flavia Pennetta
    Sania Mirza
    Donna Vekic

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