Federer ready to serve Aces after Nadal’s withdrawal
SEVEN-TIME Wimbledon champion Roger Federer has been announced as world No2 Rafael Nadal’s replacement for the Indian Aces
team at the inaugural International Premier Tennis League.
Nadal has not played since suffering a shock fourth-round defeat at Wimbledon to Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios on 1 July due to a wrist injury, but hopes to return to the court next week in the build up to November’s ATP World Tour Finals in London.
However, the Spaniard has decided to use the off-season to recover from his recent injury and miss the new team event which begins on 28 November and is set to take place over 16 days in Manila, Singapore, Delhi and Dubai.
Federer was initially skeptical about competing in the event, which combines former stars such as Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi with the current cream of tennis’s men’s and women’s games.
But the Swiss superstar said yesterday: “I’m really looking forward to making my first trip to Delhi. My team tells me that there’s a lot of tennis fans and supporters of mine in the area.”
The Aces team will be comprised of Federer, Sampras, Gael Monfils, Ana Ivanovic and Fabrice Santoro, plus Indian duo Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna.