International Premier Tennis League - 2014

[Front242]

Rafter made a mockery of Sampras out there.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Horrible moves from Roger...just terrible...:snigger

 

[Kieran]

Rafter made a mockery of Sampras out there.

Pete was very normal out there. He must be on something.

Rafter was exceptional. He must be on something.

:snigger

(Just kidding mods, none of them were on anything except the fee)

Why did they not shake hands at the end?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

After his mixed doubles with Sania, Fed was asked when was the last time he played mixed doubles.
Fed said he had played mixed doubles with just three players before: Martina Hingis, Martina Navaratilova and My wife.

I can't remember when Fed played with Martina Navaratilova.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

He's still stupid for taking part...

It has now been officially confirmed that Fed will play just two days in India for IPTL.
He will not play in the last leg at UAE.

If Fed choose to play in all four cities for IPTL, that certainly would be stupid. However,
I don't think spending couple of days in India is seriously going to affect his preparation for
AO of next year (not to mention that 4 million is nice to have too).

The South American exo matches were full pledged men's singles matches. But, the
circus matches are less serious than that.

 

[bajana]

He's still stupid for taking part...

It has now been officially confirmed that Fed will play just two days in India for IPTL.
He will not play in the last leg at UAE.

If Fed choose to play in all four cities for IPTL, that certainly would be stupid. However,
I don't think spending couple of days in India is seriously going to affect his preparation for
AO of next year (not to mention that 4 million is nice to have too).

The South American exo matches were full pledged men's singles matches. But, the
circus matches are less serious than that.

Umm, you being the last to hear that does not equal "now been confirmed..." lol j/k. Right from the beginning he replaced Nadal who was not committed to 4 cities either -- none of the top players were: Williams, Sharapova, Fed and Novak... all cameo appearances.

AND I don't think in this case, it's fair to dismiss them as circus matches. There's been no malarkying around out there on the court(or so little you'd need a microscope to spot it). Sure they've been having fun on the benches and stuff, but the actual play has been quite competitive. The intensity of the competition shocked poor Andre's system

 

[GameSetAndMath]

He's still stupid for taking part...

It has now been officially confirmed that Fed will play just two days in India for IPTL.
He will not play in the last leg at UAE.

If Fed choose to play in all four cities for IPTL, that certainly would be stupid. However,
I don't think spending couple of days in India is seriously going to affect his preparation for
AO of next year (not to mention that 4 million is nice to have too).

The South American exo matches were full pledged men's singles matches. But, the
circus matches are less serious than that.

Umm, you being the last to hear that does not equal "now been confirmed..." lol j/k. Right from the beginning he replaced Nadal who was not committed to 4 cities either -- none of the top players were: Williams, Sharapova, Fed and Novak... all cameo appearances.

AND I don't think in this case, it's fair to dismiss them as circus matches. There's been no malarkying around out there on the court(or so little you'd need a microscope to spot it). Sure they've been having fun on the benches and stuff, but the actual play has been quite competitive. The intensity of the competition shocked poor Andre's system

1. Yes, it was expected and all of us knew it. However, I used the word "officially". This is the first time IPTL came out in the open and admitted that Fed will not be playing in UAE.

2. You are right. There is no clowning around going. I was still using the word "circus" which shows
my bias (I was expecting it to be circus from the beginning, see my OP).

 

[GameSetAndMath]

The following changes in the line up are likely for tomorrows match between Indian Aces
and UAE Royals.

1. Fed vs. Djokovic.
2. Fed & Pete vs. Zimonjic & Cilic.
3. Ana Ivanovic vs. Caroline Wozniacki.
4. Sania Mirza & Poppanna vs. Wozniacki & Zimonjic.
5. Fabrice Santoro vs. Goran Ivanisevic.

I am only talking about the match ups here and not the order in which they will be played.

 

[mrzz]

Is it just me or the doubles matches here are in fact quite entertaining?

 

[Kieran]

Thanks Pavlik!

Well they certainly played that set for chucks...

 

[Federberg]

Interesting to see Boris there in an exo! Clearly being treated as such by the players too. Is it just me or do they seem to get on even better than we thought?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

So, Fed won five of the six sets he played in iptl. The only set he lost was the mixed doubles with
Sania Mirza against Zimonjic and Kristina. However, that match started with Sania and Boppanna
playing and then Fed was called in as a sub when it was a bit too late to rescue, I suppose.

I wonder how much his pay-check would translate into hourly rate. He probably played a
total of about 200 minutes or so in both days put together. So, I think it is more than a
million dollars per hour of play, if the rumors of his four million dollar check is true.

p.s. I do know that they are being paid not just for the match, but also for dancing around,
hitting with Bollywood stars, signing autographs, saying pleasant things in interviews that they
don't really mean etc. But, it s a fun calculation any way.

p.s.2. I think Fed would do it again next year, but probably not in India; Perhaps in Singapore
or Philippines or some other country, assuming he had not played there before.

 

[Front242]

Nice to see the players really playing properly in these exos. Quite competitive between Roger and Novak there with each guy trying to one up the other to have the last win of the season against the opponent for the year.

 

[Kieran]

That's it, this is all quite competitive and it was great watching the Power Point Federer won in the tiebreak against the clock. Nole chunking and overhead while Becker watched on. An entertaining set.

Again, I dunno why the two players don't shake hands after their set but I suppose it's because it's only one set of five. Although it's the only set they'll play against each other. Nole was really narky with the ball kid and he still had about 12 seconds on the clock when Federer ended it... :snigger

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

The Federer overhead was insane!

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Boy, Christina had a unreturned service winner to close the mixed doubles match with
Rog receiving.:cover

 

[GameSetAndMath]

This IPTL has become a far greater success than I imagined both in terms of star player participation and in the competitive quality of the matches.

Mahesh has already announced that four more cities want to have their own teams for next year, but he is only going to select two of them to have controlled growth. So, look for 6 teams with 2 groups format next year. The idea of substitutions and having a large 7/8 member team certainly works well to attract top players as they don't have to commit themselves for the entire duration of the circus.

 

[Kieran]

Pete looked utterly bored and uncomfortable during those matches. "Get me outta here, the money is in" kinda look...

 

[pavlik89]

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05uCHTscr7w[/video]

 

[bajana]

Monfils played a surprisingly good match after Tsonga jolted him with a first game break of serve.

Hantuchova came on really well in these last days. Pat Rafter, the least said the better.

Fabrice Santoro clap

And Berdych did not choke!! Are you kidding me!