Int’l Premier Tennis League announces team coaches for inaugural edition.
Fabrice Santoro, Josh Eagle, John Laffnie De Jager, and Treat Huey to coach India, Singapore, Dubai and Philippines IPTL teams respectively
Dubai, 27th October 2014: The much-awaited International Premier Tennis
League (IPTL), tennis’ latest and most exciting new initiative, has
appointed experienced tennis coaches Josh Eagle and John Laffnie De Jager as
coaches of the Singapore ‘Slammers’ and the UAE ‘Royals’ respectively. The
distinguished Fabrice Santoro and Manila native Treat Huey, who is
currently ranked ATP Doubles World No. 40, will be the player-coaches for
the Micromax Indian ‘Aces’ and Manila ‘Mavericks’.
Powered by its exciting format and unique innovations, the revolutionary
new League promises to change the manner in which the world enjoys the top
sport. The traditional scoring format has been changed to single-set no-add
scoring, which will speed up the games and enable the fans to experience up
to 24 different players in one exhilarating evening. While each match will
consist of 5 sets comprising men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles,
mixed doubles and former Champions singles, each game won will count as one
point for the team points total. The team that wins the most games overall
across the five sets wins the match.
Thrilling features such as time outs, power points, shoot-outs, a running
shot clock, and venues equipped with Hawk-Eye and more will ensure edge of
the seat action for spectators at stadiums and viewers catching it on
television. Live entertainment during all matches will make the IPTL an
experience like no other. In the above setting, coaches will play a
significant role during each match, guiding players on team strategy,
calling for time-outs to discuss strategy, fostering a team atmosphere and
getting each player to play for the team in a sport considered highly
individual.
France’s Fabrice Santoro is player and coach of the Micromax Indian
‘Aces’. *He is a distinguished doubles player, holds several ATP records,
and has made an unbeaten 70 appearances in singles competition at Grand
Slam events. He is also the only male player to have appeared in Grand Slam
singles competitions in four different decades. Fabrice’s charming demeanor
and repertoire of trick shots make him a delight to watch.
Singapore ‘Slammers’ coach Joshua Eagle is a former professional male
tennis player and current professional tennis coach from Australia. In
January 2013 he was appointed as the Australian Davis Cup coach, having
previously won Tennis Australia’s elite coaching excellence award in 2012
for helping Australian Marinko Matosevic break into the top 50 from outside
200. Eagle is classified as a doubles specialist and has won five ATP
doubles titles.
UAE Royals coach John-Laffnie de Jager is a South
African former tour professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, de
Jager reached the semi-finals for three different grand slam tournaments
three times in three different years partnering three different fellow
South African players. De Jager is the current non-playing captain of the
South Africa Davis Cup team.
Like Santoro, Filipino-American tennis player Treat Huey is
also player and coach. The Manila ‘Mavericks’ player specializes in
doubles and has reached three finals on the ATP World Tour. Huey reached
his career-high doubles ranking of World No. 21 in November 2013. The
28-year-old is the Philippines’ #1 and current ATP Doubles World No. 40.
The player’s fans will get to see him live in action at a home event for
the first time.
Together, all four coaches will help their respective teams formulate a
winning strategy as they compete across 5 single-set matches involving
men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and past
champion singles to determine a winner.
The new team tennis competition featuring the best current and former ATP
and WTA players will be played across 4 selected cities in Asia (Manila,
Singapore, Delhi and Dubai) from 28 November to 13 December 2014.
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