2014 UAE Royals season
# 2014 UAE Royals season

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

## Season recap

### Founding of franchise

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. On 2 March 2014, IPTL revealed that the Middle East franchise would play its home matches in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 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.

### Inaugural draft

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

| 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

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

### Home venue

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

### Player transactions

On 25 June 2014, the Royals announced that they had signed Richard Gasquet. On 22 August 2014, the Royals announced that the team had signed Eugenie Bouchard during Wimbledon. 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. On 19 October 2014, the Royals announced that they had signed Marin Čilić and released Gasquet. On 24 November 2014, Bouchard pulled out from the competition due to an injury and was replaced by Kristina Mladenovic.

### First coach

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

## Event chronology

* 21 January 2014: IPTL announced that one of the charter franchises for the league inaugural 2014 season would be in the Middle East.
* 2 March: IPTL revealed that the Middle East franchise will play in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Dubai franchise participated in the IPTL inaugural draft.
* 10 May: The Dubai franchise was referred to as the UAE Falcons.
* 25 June: The Falcons' name is changed to the UAE Royals.
* 25 June: The Royals announced that their home matches would be played at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex.
* 25 June: The Royals announced that they had signed Richard Gasquet. Janko Tipsarević was later apparently released.
* 22 August: The Royals announced that they had signed Eugenie Bouchard. Martina Hingis was later apparently released.
* 19 October: the Royals announced that they had signed Marin Čilić and released Richard Gasquet.
* 27 October: John-Laffnie de Jager was named the Royals' first coach.
* 24 November: The Royals announced Eugenie Bouchard withdrawn from the competition due to an injury. She was replaced by Kristina Mladenovic.
* 28 November: The Royals opened their inaugural season with a 29–24 victory on the road against the Manila Mavericks.
* 30 November: The Royals lost to the Indian Aces, 28–20, in a matchup of two previously unbeaten teams. The Royals' record fell to 2 wins and 1 loss, and they dropped out of first place in the league standings.

## Match log

    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 Manla, Philippines | UAE Royals 29, MANILA MAVERICKS 24 * 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 Manla, Philippines | UAE Royals 28, SINGAPORE SLAMMERS 22 * 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 Manla, Philippines | Indian Aces 28, UAE ROYALS 20 * 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

Reference:

* Eugenie Bouchard – injured, did not play
* Marin Čilić
* Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Новак Ђоковић)
* Goran Ivanišević
* Malek Jaziri (Arabic: مالك الجزيري)
* Kristina Mladenovic
* Caroline Wozniacki
* Nenad Zimonjić (Serbian: Ненад Зимоњић)

## Television coverage

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.

