2015 International Premier Tennis League season
# 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.

## 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.

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.

If the two teams are tied (in terms of games won) at the end of the five 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.

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:

* 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.

* Indian Aces
* Philippine Mavericks
* Singapore Slammers
* UAE Royals
* Japan Warriors

### 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

| Round | Date | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | December 2–4 | Kobe | Kobe World Hall | 8,000 |
| 2 | December 6–8 | Manila | Mall of Asia Arena | 20,000 |
| 3 | December 10–12 | New Delhi | Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium | 14,348 |
| 4 | December 14–16 | Dubai | Aviation Club Tennis Centre | 8,000 |
| 5 | December 18–20 | Singapore | Singapore Indoor Stadium | 12,000 |

## Results

| Round | Location | Date | Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Kobe | 2 December | UAE Royals | 26–20 | Singapore Slammers |
| 1 | Kobe | 2 December | Japan Warriors | 24–25 | Indian Aces |
| 1 | Kobe | 3 December | Philippine Mavericks | 24–26 | Singapore Slammers |
| 1 | Kobe | 3 December | Japan Warriors | 15–30 | UAE Royals |
| 1 | Kobe | 4 December | Singapore Slammers | 22–27 | Indian Aces |
| 1 | Kobe | 4 December | Japan Warriors | 24–28 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 2 | Manila | 6 December | Japan Warriors | 20–29 | Singapore Slammers |
| 2 | Manila | 6 December | UAE Royals | 18–29 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 2 | Manila | 7 December | Indian Aces | 30–18 | UAE Royals |
| 2 | Manila | 7 December | Japan Warriors | 21–25 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 2 | Manila | 8 December | Singapore Slammers | 23–26 | UAE Royals |
| 2 | Manila | 8 December | Indian Aces | 24–25 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 3 | New Delhi | 10 December | Japan Warriors | 24–21 | UAE Royals |
| 3 | New Delhi | 10 December | Philippine Mavericks | 12–30 | Indian Aces |
| 3 | New Delhi | 11 December | Singapore Slammers | 30–23 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 3 | New Delhi | 11 December | Japan Warriors | 21–26 | Indian Aces |
| 3 | New Delhi | 12 December | Japan Warriors | 22–24 | Singapore Slammers |
| 3 | New Delhi | 12 December | UAE Royals | 19–30 | Indian Aces |
| 4 | Dubai | 14 December | Indian Aces | 25–18 | Japan Warriors |
| 4 | Dubai | 14 December | UAE Royals | 24–26 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 4 | Dubai | 15 December | Indian Aces | 24–23 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 4 | Dubai | 15 December | Singapore Slammers | 27–24 | UAE Royals |
| 4 | Dubai | 16 December | Indian Aces | 16–27 | Singapore Slammers |
| 4 | Dubai | 16 December | Japan Warriors | 22–26 | UAE Royals |
| 5 | Singapore | 18 December | Japan Warriors | 29–15 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 5 | Singapore | 18 December | UAE Royals | 27–23 | Singapore Slammers |
| 5 | Singapore | 19 December | UAE Royals | 23–24 | Philippine Mavericks |
| 5 | Singapore | 19 December | Indian Aces | 21–27 | Singapore Slammers |
| 5 | Singapore | 20 December Final | Singapore Slammers | 26–21 | Indian 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 :

| Team | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match | Match |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Team | Dec 2 | Dec 3 | Dec 4 | Dec 6 | Dec 7 | Dec 8 | Dec 10 | Dec 11 | Dec 12 | Dec 14 | Dec 15 | Dec 16 | Dec 18 | Dec 19 | Dec 20 |
| Indian Aces (2015 season) | JAP | free day | SIN | free day | UAE | PHI | PHI | JAP | UAE | JAP | PHI | SIN | free day | SIN | SIN |
| Indian Aces (2015 season) | 25–24 | free day | 27–22 | free day | 30–18 | 24–25 | 30–12 | 26–21 | 30–19 | 25–18 | 24–23 | 16–27 | free day | 21–27 | 21–26 |
| Philippine Mavericks (2015 season) | free day | SIN | JAP | UAE | JAP | IND | IND | SIN | free day | UAE | IND | free day | JAP | UAE | 4th |
| Philippine Mavericks (2015 season) | free day | 24–26 | 28–24 | 29–18 | 25–21 | 25–24 | 12–30 | 22–30 | free day | 26–24 | 23–24 | free day | 15–29 | 24–23 | 4th |
| Singapore Slammers (2015 season) | UAE | PHI | IND | JAP | free day | UAE | free day | PHI | JAP | free day | UAE | IND | UAE | IND | IND |
| Singapore Slammers (2015 season) | 20–26 | 26–24 | 22–27 | 29–20 | free day | 23–26 | free day | 30–22 | 24–22 | free day | 27–24 | 27–16 | 23–27 | 27–21 | 26–21 |
| UAE Royals (2015 season) | SIN | JAP | free day | PHI | IND | SIN | JAP | free day | IND | PHI | SIN | JAP | SIN | PHI | 3rd |
| UAE Royals (2015 season) | 26–20 | 30–15 | free day | 18–29 | 18–30 | 26–23 | 21–24 | free day | 19–30 | 24–26 | 24–27 | 26–22 | 27–23 | 23–24 | 3rd |
| Japan Warriors (2015 season) | IND | UAE | PHI | SIN | PHI | free day | UAE | IND | SIN | IND | free day | UAE | PHI | free day | 5th |
| Japan Warriors (2015 season) | 24–25 | 15–30 | 24–28 | 20–29 | 21–25 | free day | 24–21 | 21–26 | 22–24 | 18–25 | free day | 22–26 | 29–15 | free day | 5th |

Notes

* 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 Aces | | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 8–3 | 16–7 |
| 2 | Philippine Mavericks | 1–2 | | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 6–5 | 12–11 |
| 3 | Singapore Slammers | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–3 | 2–0 | 7–4 | 10–13 |
| 4 | UAE Royals | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | | 2–1 | 5–6 | 12–11 |
| 5 | Japan Warriors | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | | 2–9 | First 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."

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 | |
