Caroline Wozniacki expects a “hilarious” time on court when she teams up with Novak Djokovic to represent the UAE Royals at the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) while Serena Williams revealed she won’t be participating in the Dubai leg.
Wozniacki confirmed she will be at the Hamdan Sports Complex from December 11-13 where she and good friend Djokovic will be joined by Goran Ivanisevic, Eugenie Bouchard, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic and Malek Jaziri in the UAE Royals squad.
“I’m planning to play. It’s the beginning of December for me, so I’m excited for that,” Wozniacki said.
“I think it’s going to be great for me. Because the off season this year is so long, it will be nice for me to get a few sets in just before the real season starts.”
“I definitely think that it’s going to be great, and it’s going to be a lot of fun as well. I’m on a team with Novak and we’re good friends. He’s always hilarious.”
Just about a month for the league to start. Looking forward to play with all the other @uaeroyals and take the best of the @iptl
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) October 28, 2014
World No. 1 Williams headlines the Singapore Slammers team and while she will be competing in two of the four IPTL stops, sadly for UAE fans, Dubai is not one of them.
Williams will be featuring in the first two legs, in Manila from November 28-30 and Singapore from December 2-4.
Asked whether a showing in Dubai was on the cards, the American said: “I wish. I love going to Dubai, but I don’t think so.”
Meanwhile, the IPTL announced the four coaches who will be leading the star-studded teams.
The UAE Royals will be guided by former South African doubles specialist John-Laffnie de Jager and French magician Fabrice Santoro will coach the Indian Aces, which includes Roger Federer.
It’s competition time again! See our Facebook page: https://t.co/bBzY3GvLKr #wintickets pic.twitter.com/zEHqS7jDLO
— UAE Royals (@UAERoyals) October 28, 2014
Josh Eagle will take over the Singapore Slammers while Filipino-American Treat Huey, the current doubles world No. 53, will coach the Manila Mavericks.
All four coaches will help their respective teams formulate a winning strategy as they compete across five single-set matches involving men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and past champion’s singles to determine a winner.