2014 UAE Royals season

The 2014 UAE Royals season is the inaugural season of the franchise playing in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

2014 UAE Royals
2014 record2 wins, 0 losses
Owner(s)Ace Ventures
President/CEOSachin Gadoya and
Sawan Ravani
CoachJohn-Laffnie de Jager
StadiumHamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex
Television coverageAbu Dhabi Media
2015 →

Season recap

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Founding of franchise

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On 21 January 2014, IPTL announced that one of the charter franchises for the league's inaugural 2014 season would be based in the Middle East.[1][2] On 2 March 2014, IPTL revealed that the Middle East franchise would play its home matches in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.[3] The team was founded by Ace Ventures, a group of investors led by Sachin Gadoya, co-founder and chief executive officer of Musafir.com, an Internet-based travel agency, along with his friends Sawan Ravani, Rahul Saharia, Kaushal Majithia, Chirag Vora and Kunal Bansal.[4][5]

Inaugural draft

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The Dubai franchise participated in the IPTL inaugural draft on 2 March 2014, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Players selected by Dubai were[3]

Player IPTL Category
Men
  Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Новак Ђоковић) Icon players
  Janko Tipsarević (Serbian: Јанко Типсаревић) Category D
  Goran Ivanišević Past champions
  Nenad Zimonjić (Serbian: Ненад Зимоњић) Doubles players
  Malek Jaziri (Arabic: مالك الجزيري) Uncategorized
Women
  Caroline Wozniacki Icon players
  Martina Hingis Category C

Team name

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By May 2014, the team was being referred to as the UAE Falcons.[6] By June 2014, the Falcons had become known as the UAE Royals.[5]

Home venue

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On 25 June 2014, the Royals announced that their home matches would be played at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex.[5]

Player transactions

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On 25 June 2014, the Royals announced that they had signed Richard Gasquet.[5] On 22 August 2014, the Royals announced that the team had signed Eugenie Bouchard during Wimbledon.[7] A team roster posted by the Royals on Facebook excluded Janko Tipsarević and Martina Hingis who were presumably released following the signings of Gasquet and Bouchard.[8] On 19 October 2014, the Royals announced that they had signed Marin Čilić and released Gasquet.[9][10] On 24 November 2014, Bouchard pulled out from the competition due to an injury and was replaced by Kristina Mladenovic.[11]

First coach

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On 27 October 2014, John-Laffnie de Jager was named the Royals' first coach.[12]

Event chronology

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Match log

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Legend
Royals Win Royals Loss
Home team in CAPS
(including coin-flip winners)
Match Date Venue and location Result and details Record
1 28 November Mall of Asia Arena
Pasay, Metropolitan Manila, Philippines
UAE Royals 29, MANILA MAVERICKS 24[13]
* LS: Goran Ivanišević (Royals) 6, Carlos Moyá (Mavericks) 5
* MD: Marin Čilić/Nenad Zimonjić (Royals) 6, Treat Huey/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Mavericks) 4
* XD: Kristina Mladenovic/Nenad Zimonjić (Royals) 6, Maria Sharapova/Andy Murray (Mavericks) 4
* WS: Maria Sharapova (Mavericks) 6, Kristina Mladenovic (Royals) 5
* MS: Marin Čilić (Royals) 6, Andy Murray (Mavericks) 5
1-0
2 29 November Mall of Asia Arena
Pasay, Metropolitan Manila, Philippines
UAE Royals 28, SINGAPORE SLAMMERS 22[15]
* MS: Marin Čilić (Royals) 6, Tomáš Berdych (Slammers) 4
* MD: Tomáš Berdych/Nick Kyrgios (Slammers) 6, Marin Čilić/Nenad Zimonjić (Royals) 5
* WS: Kristina Mladenovic (Royals) 6, Daniela Hantuchová (Slammers) 1
* XD: Daniela Hantuchová/Nick Kyrgios (Slammers) 6, Kristina Mladenovic/Nenad Zimonjić (Royals) 5
***Nick Kyrgios substituted for Bruno Soares
* LS: Goran Ivanišević (Royals) 6, Patrick Rafter (Slammers) 5
2-0
3 30 November Mall of Asia Arena
Pasay, Metropolitan Manila, Philippines
Indian Aces 28, UAE ROYALS 20[14]
* WS: Kristina Mladenovic (Royals) 6, Ana Ivanovic (Aces) 4
* XD: Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna (Aces) 6, Kristina Mladenovic/Nenad Zimonjić (Royals) 3
* MD: Rohan Bopanna/Gaël Monfils (Aces) 6, Marin Čilić/Nenad Zimonjić (Royals) 4
* MS: Gaël Monfils (Aces) 6, Malek Jaziri (Royals) 3
***Malek Jaziri substituted for Marin Čilić
* LS: Fabrice Santoro (Aces) 6, Goran Ivanišević (Royals) 4
2-1
4 2 December Singapore Indoor Stadium
Singapore
UAE Royals vs. Indian Aces
5 3 December Singapore Indoor Stadium
Singapore
UAE Royals vs. Manila Mavericks
6 4 December Singapore Indoor Stadium
Singapore
UAE Royals at SINGAPORE SLAMMERS
7 6 December Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium
New Delhi, Delhi, India
UAE Royals vs. Singapore Slammers
8 7 December Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium
New Delhi, Delhi, India
UAE Royals vs. Manila Mavericks
9 8 December Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium
New Delhi, Delhi, India
UAE Royals at INDIAN ACES
10 11 December Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Manila Mavericks at UAE ROYALS
11 12 December Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Indian Aces at UAE ROYALS
12 13 December Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Singapore Slammers at UAE ROYALS

Key: MS = men's singles; MD = men's doubles; WS = women's singles; XD = mixed doubles; LS = legends' singles; OT = overtime (additional games played in extended fifth sets); SO = men's singles super shoot-out

Roster

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Reference:[16]

Television coverage

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On 22 August 2014, IPTL announced it had reached an agreement for the Middle East and North Africa television broadcasting rights with Abu Dhabi Media.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Mahesh Bhupathi Launched IPTL in Melbourne". Jagran Josh. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Mumbai One of the Franchises in Cash-Rich International Premier Tennis League". CNN IBN Live. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014. Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  3. ^ a b c Briggs, Simon (2 March 2014). "Andy Murray Signs for Bangkok As Premier Tennis League Prepares for Take-Off". The Telegraph. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Get Together at Wimbledon with Announcement of Team Owners for India, Singapore, Manila and UAE" (PDF) (Press release). International Premier Tennis League. 19 June 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Ousman, Allaam (25 June 2014). "Djokovic Leads UAE Royals at Inaugural IPTL: Dubai Will Host Finale of $1 Million Tournament from December 11–13". Emirates 24/7. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Bhupathi's IPTL Opener Moved to Manila from Bangkok". The Times of India. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  7. ^ a b c Gomes, Alaric (22 August 2014). "Eugenie Bouchard Joins the Dubai Bandwagon". Gulf News. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  8. ^ a b c "Meet the UAE Royal Star Line Up". UAE Royals. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Reigning US Open Champ Marin Cilic Adds Croat Muscle to U.A.E. Royals IPTL Campaign". UAE Interact. 20 October 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  10. ^ a b "Reigning US Open Champion Marin Cilic Joins UAE Royals". Sport 360. 19 October 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  11. ^ a b "Injury Forces Eugenie Bouchard to Withdraw from 2014 IPTL, Kristina Mladenovic Replaces Her in UAE Royals". 27 November 2014.
  12. ^ a b "International Premier Tennis League Announces Coaches for Inaugural Edition". Spicy Stars Mumbai. 28 October 2014. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Match 2 – Report: Musafir.com UAE Royals vs. Manila Mavericks" (PDF). International Premier Tennis League. 28 November 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  14. ^ a b "Day 3 Match 1 – Report: Musafir.com UAE Royals vs. Micromax Indian Aces" (PDF). International Premier Tennis League. 30 November 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  15. ^ "29th Nov'14: Match 1 Report: Musafir.com UAE Royals vs. DBS Singapore Slammers" (PDF). International Premier Tennis League. 29 November 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  16. ^ "Meet the Royals". UAE Royals. Archived from the original on 5 October 2014. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
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