UAE Royals hope to make home support count
Federer and Murray clash sets the tone for penultimate round in Dubai
The Obi UAE Royals will be looking at home support and their marquee signing Roger Federer to put their derailed campaign back on track in the second season of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) at the Dubai Tennis Stadium from December 14-16.
After a great start to the competition in Japan and the Philippines, the UAE Royals lost both their encounters at a packed stadium in New Delhi over the weekend. Expected to make the difference for the UAE Royals was Federer as he faced former world number one Rafael Nadal.
Hanging on
And though the Swiss ace disappointed on both counts — the Obi UAE Royals are still hanging in at third position on the five-team table.
Playing alongside Marin Cilic, Federer went down to Nadal and Rohan Bopanna 6-4 in the men’s doubles and then went down 7-4 in the shoot-out to lose 6-5 to Nadal in the men’s singles.
After the first three stops of the five, it is the Micromax Indian Aces who are in pole position to defend their title with a winning percentage of 57.7 after winning six of the seven encounters they have played so far. In second are the Oue Singapore Slammers with four wins out of seven and a win percentage of 51, while the Obi UAE Royals are chasing one of the two spots in next week’s finale in Singapore on December 20.
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