2015 International Premier Tennis League season

The 2015 International Premier Tennis League season (2015 IPTL season, officially the 2015 Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League Presented by Qatar Airways season pursuant to sponsorship agreements with The Coca-Cola Company and Qatar Airways) is the second season of the professional team tennis league contested by five teams in Asia.

2015 International Premier Tennis League
LeagueInternational Premier Tennis League
SportTeam tennis
Duration2–20 December 2015
Number of teams5
TV partner(s) Sports5
Abu Dhabi Media
Integrated Sports Media
TSN-RDS
WOWOW
SingTel
STAR Sports
ESPN Latin America
ESPN Brasil
League championsSingapore Slammers
Runners-upIndian Aces

Format

The teams compete in a customized round robin format of matches in each host country. The top two teams at the end of the round robin stage qualify for the final. The winner of the final is declared the champion.[1]

In the 2015 season, the league has terminated the "last set importance" which gave the trailing team an opportunity to continue playing if they win the fifth set as played out in the 2014 season. In the 2015 season, the fifth set continues in the conventional way, where the first team to score 6 games wins the set, with a 13-point tie-breaker to decide the winner, if the two teams are tied at 5–5.[1]

If the two teams are tied (in terms of games won) at the end of the five (5) Sets, a super shoot-out is played in a men's singles format to determine the winner of the match. It is played as a 19-point super tiebreaker. The first team to win 10 points, 9–9 final point wins the Super Shoot-Out and hence the Match. A 2-point difference is not required, and it is not time bound (unlike the 2014 season). The match-winner is the team that wins the most games and hence points, at the end of the five sets.[1]

The league standings are determined on the basis of the win-loss percentage of overall games won versus lost therefore making every game played count. The two teams with the best percentage ratios qualify for the finals. In the event that two teams are tied for the second place, the following criteria determines which team qualifies for the finals:[1]

  • head-to-head results
  • largest winning margin, by games, in any single match
  • coin toss

Teams

Five teams will compete in the 2015 IPTL season. Japan Warriors is set to become the fifth team to participate at the IPTL.

Draft results

Novak Djokovic pulled out of the tournament and was replaced by Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka by Singapore Slammers. Dustin Brown replaced Thanasi Kokkinakis. Milos Raonic replaced Borna Ćorić. Édouard Roger-Vasselin replaced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Philipp Kohlschreiber replaced Vasek Pospisil. Pierre-Hugues Herbert replaced Lucas Pouille. Mirjana Lučić-Baroni replaced Daniela Hantuchová. Alja Tomljanović replaced Sabine Lisicki.

Category Philippine Mavericks UAE Royals Indian Aces Singapore Slammers Japan Warriors
Men
Icon players Roger Federer Rafael Nadal Andy Murray
Category A Milos Raonic Tomáš Berdych Bernard Tomic Stan Wawrinka Kei Nishikori
Category B Richard Gasquet Marin Čilić Gaël Monfils
Category C Ivo Karlović Nick Kyrgios Philipp Kohlschreiber
Category D Edouard Roger-Vasselin Ivan Dodig
Legends Mark Philippoussis

James Blake

Goran Ivanišević Fabrice Santoro Carlos Moyá

Marat Safin

Thomas Enqvist

Doubles players Treat Huey Daniel Nestor Rohan Bopanna Marcelo Melo Leander Paes
Uncategorized Somdev Devvarman Dustin Brown Pierre-Hugues Herbert
Women
Icon players Serena Williams Maria Sharapova
Category A Ana Ivanovic Agnieszka Radwańska
Category B Samantha Stosur Belinda Bencic Mirjana Lučić-Baroni
Category C Ajla Tomljanović Kristina Mladenovic Svetlana Kuznetsova Karolína Plíšková
Category D Jarmila Gajdošová Sania Mirza Kirsten Flipkens
Uncategorized Kurumi Nara

Calendar

RoundDateLocationStadiumCapacity
1 December 2–4 KobeKobe World Hall8,000
2 December 6–8 ManilaMall of Asia Arena20,000
3 December 10–12 New DelhiIndira Gandhi Indoor Stadium14,348
4 December 14–16 DubaiAviation Club Tennis Centre8,000
5 December 18–20 SingaporeSingapore Indoor Stadium12,000

Results

RoundLocationDateTeam 1ScoreTeam 2
1 Kobe 2 DecemberUAE Royals26–20Singapore Slammers
2 DecemberJapan Warriors24–25Indian Aces
3 DecemberPhilippine Mavericks24–26Singapore Slammers
3 DecemberJapan Warriors15–30UAE Royals
4 DecemberSingapore Slammers22–27Indian Aces
4 DecemberJapan Warriors24–28Philippine Mavericks
2 Manila 6 DecemberJapan Warriors20–29Singapore Slammers
6 DecemberUAE Royals18–29Philippine Mavericks
7 DecemberIndian Aces30–18UAE Royals
7 DecemberJapan Warriors21–25Philippine Mavericks
8 DecemberSingapore Slammers23–26UAE Royals
8 DecemberIndian Aces24–25Philippine Mavericks
3 New Delhi 10 DecemberJapan Warriors24–21UAE Royals
10 DecemberPhilippine Mavericks12–30Indian Aces
11 DecemberSingapore Slammers30–23Philippine Mavericks
11 DecemberJapan Warriors21–26Indian Aces
12 DecemberJapan Warriors22–24Singapore Slammers
12 DecemberUAE Royals19–30Indian Aces
4 Dubai 14 DecemberIndian Aces25–18Japan Warriors
14 DecemberUAE Royals24–26Philippine Mavericks
15 DecemberIndian Aces24–23Philippine Mavericks
15 DecemberSingapore Slammers27–24UAE Royals
16 DecemberIndian Aces16–27Singapore Slammers
16 DecemberJapan Warriors22–26UAE Royals
5 Singapore 18 DecemberJapan Warriors29–15Philippine Mavericks
18 DecemberUAE Royals27–23Singapore Slammers
19 DecemberUAE Royals23–24Philippine Mavericks
19 DecemberIndian Aces21–27Singapore Slammers
20 December FinalSingapore Slammers26–21Indian Aces

Results table

Abbreviation and Color Key:
Indian Aces (IND) • Philippine Mavericks (PHI) • Singapore Slammers (SIN) • UAE Royals (UAE) • Japan Warriors (JAP)

Win     Loss     Home     Away     Neutral

TeamMatch
123456789101112131415
Dec 2Dec 3Dec 4Dec 6Dec 7Dec 8Dec 10Dec 11Dec 12Dec 14Dec 15Dec 16Dec 18Dec 19Dec 20
Indian Aces (2015 season)JAPfree
day
SINfree
day
UAEPHIPHIJAPUAEJAPPHISINfree
day
SINSIN
25–2427–2230–1824–2530–1226–2130–1925–1824–2316–2721–2721–26
Philippine Mavericks (2015 season)free
day
SINJAPUAEJAPINDINDSINfree
day
UAEINDfree
day
JAPUAE4th
24–2628–2429–1825–2125–2412–3022–3026–2423–2415–2924–23
Singapore Slammers (2015 season)UAEPHIINDJAPfree
day
UAEfree
day
PHIJAPfree
day
UAEINDUAEINDIND
20–2626–2422–2729–2023–2630–2224–2227–2427–1623–2727–2126–21
UAE Royals (2015 season)SINJAPfree
day
PHI[1]INDSINJAPfree
day
INDPHISINJAPSINPHI3rd
26–2030–1518–2918–3026–2321–2419–3024–2624–2726–2227–2323–24
Japan Warriors (2015 season)INDUAEPHISINPHIfree
day
UAEINDSININDfree
day
UAEPHIfree
day
5th
24–2515–3024–2820–2921–2524–2121–2622–2418–2522–2629–15

Notes

  • 1 Due to the odd number of teams through this Season, one team plays an extra match. That team will be allowed to drop their score on any one match through the Season provided they inform this intent soon after the match is completed. This Season, the team that plays the extra match is the Obi UAE Royals. The Obi UAE Royals have chosen to drop their score on the match played against the Philippine Mavericks on December 6, 2015 in Manila. The score for the Philippine Mavericks however does count towards their Win Percentage.

Standings

Standings are determined by percentage of games won. Top two teams qualify for final.

P Team MP W L GW GL G%
1 Indian Aces 11 8 3 278 236 54.09%
2 Singapore Slammers 11 7 4 278 255 52.16%
3 UAE Royals 11 5 6 264 264 50%
4 Philippine Mavericks 11 6 5 253 273 48.1%
5 Japan Warriors 11 2 9 240 274 46.69%

Position summary

The following table shows the day-by-day position of each team in the league standings.

Team D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15/Final
Philippine Mavericks X 4 3 1 2 1 2 4 4 4 3 4 4 4 X
UAE Royals 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 3 3 3 X
Indian Aces 2 2 2 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2
Japan Warriors 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 X
Singapore Slammers 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1

Teams head-to-head

2015 International Premier Tennis League season

# Team Ind. Aces Mavericks Slammers Royals Warriors 2015 season All seasons
1 Indian Aces2–11–22–03–08–316–7
2 Philippine Mavericks1–20–23–02–16–512–11
3 Singapore Slammers2–12–01–32–07–410–13
4 UAE Royals0–20–23–12–15–612–11
5 Japan Warriors0–31–20–21–22–9First season

Final

The final was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 20 December In Singapore.

After an 18-day 5-nation tour the Indian Aces, with 8 eight wins out of 11 this season, and the Singapore Slammers, last on the league table in first edition, but finishing a strong second this season, played the final of a prize money of USD 1 million (USD 500,000 for the runners-up), which was won by the Slammers 26-21.

The Most Valuable Player (MVP) (Male) for IPTL 2015 was Ivan Dodig (Aces) whilst Belinda Bencic (Slammers) was adjudged the MVP (Female) for their performances through the season.

On behalf of the League, Founder and Managing Director, Mahesh Bhupathi said “We got off to a great start last year, added another team in the second year, were broadcast in 155 countries across the world – so it speaks well for the success for the IPTL. Next year is an Olympic year, so I don’t see us adding another team, but we’ll continue building on from here.”

What the Players said:

Stan Wawrinka: “Do not be fooled: everybody knows why we play this event." [2]

Marcelo Melo: “Stan asked to play with me, which was great. He’s such a great player. I think he helped me more today than I helped him! It was great to have him as my doubles partner today!”

Nick Kyrgios: “Last year we had some good players but I don't think we had the same chemistry as a team, to be honest. We all got along pretty well from day one. Our energy on the bench was great and when we lost we supported each other and came back each day and gave our best. Every game counts so that was key. My team as a whole worked a lot better together this year.” He added, “For me this is a massive opportunity to be in the same team with Stan - Grand Slam Champion, Marcelo - number one doubles player in the world, Carlos - one of the greatest players to have ever played. For me sitting on the bench its massive watching them and seeing how they train. The relationships I now have. That's priceless!”

Dustin Brown: “It's been great. I watched IPTL last year on my TV so to be part of it this year it’s been great. Ii was very happy when I got the call after Wimbledon. Our team bonded really well and to be on personal terms with guys I used to only see on TV or play on the Play Station, is fantastic. It's great to be able to call these guys and ask for help. We have a really good chemistry on and off the court and that definitely made the difference in us getting the win today.”

Belinda Bencic: “I had a great year and I am very happy to have been in this position. It really helps me with next year and my preparations. I am really looking forward to 2016 and I'd like to be back for the IPTL.”

Final
All Matches
Event Singapore Slammers Indian Aces Score Score after set
Legends' Singles Carlos Moyá Fabrice Santoro 6–4 6–4
Women's Singles Belinda Bencic Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–5(7–3) 12–9
Mixed Doubles Dustin Brown
Karolína Plíšková
Sania Mirza
Rohan Bopanna
2–6 14–15
Men's Singles Stanislas Wawrinka Bernard Tomic 6–3 20–18
Men's Doubles Marcelo Melo
Stanislas Wawrinka
Rohan Bopanna
Ivan Dodig
6–3 26–21
Final score
Total score Singapore Slammers Indian Aces 26–21

References

  1. "IPTL format". Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  2. "Wawrinka: «Je vis un moment exceptionnel de ma carrière»". 24heures.ch/. Retrieved 2015-12-20.
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