2014 UAE Royals season


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

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

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

MatchDateVenue and locationResult and detailsRecord
128 NovemberMall of Asia Arena
Pasay, Metropolitan Manla, Philippines		UAE Royals 29, MANILA MAVERICKS 24
1-0
229 NovemberMall of Asia ArenaPasay, Metropolitan Manla, PhilippinesUAE Royals 28, SINGAPORE SLAMMERS 22
  • MS: Marin Čilić 6, Tomáš Berdych 4
  • MD: Tomáš Berdych/Nick Kyrgios 6, Marin Čilić/Nenad Zimonjić 5
  • WS: Kristina Mladenovic 6, Daniela Hantuchová 1
  • XD: Daniela Hantuchová/Nick Kyrgios 6, Kristina Mladenovic/Nenad Zimonjić 5
  • **Nick Kyrgios substituted for Bruno Soares
  • LS: Goran Ivanišević 6, Patrick Rafter 5
2-0
330 NovemberMall of Asia ArenaPasay, Metropolitan Manla, PhilippinesIndian Aces 28, UAE ROYALS 20
  • WS: Kristina Mladenovic 6, Ana Ivanovic 4
  • XD: Sania Mirza/Rohan Bopanna 6, Kristina Mladenovic/Nenad Zimonjić 3
  • MD: Rohan Bopanna/Gaël Monfils 6, Marin Čilić/Nenad Zimonjić 4
  • MS: Gaël Monfils 6, Malek Jaziri 3
  • **Malek Jaziri substituted for Marin Čilić
  • LS: Fabrice Santoro 6, Goran Ivanišević 4
2-1
42 DecemberSingapore Indoor StadiumSingaporeUAE Royals vs. Indian Aces
53 DecemberSingapore Indoor Stadium
Singapore		UAE Royals vs. Manila Mavericks
64 DecemberSingapore Indoor Stadium
Singapore		UAE Royals at SINGAPORE SLAMMERS
76 DecemberIndira Gandhi Indoor Stadium
New Delhi, Delhi, India		UAE Royals vs. Singapore Slammers
87 DecemberIndira Gandhi Indoor Stadium
New Delhi, Delhi, India		UAE Royals vs. Manila Mavericks
98 DecemberIndira Gandhi Indoor Stadium
New Delhi, Delhi, India		UAE Royals at INDIAN ACES
1011 DecemberHamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex
Dubai, United Arab Emirates		Manila Mavericks at UAE ROYALS
1112 DecemberHamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex
Dubai, United Arab Emirates		Indian Aces at UAE ROYALS
1213 DecemberHamdan 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 ; SO = men's singles super shoot-out

Roster

Reference:
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.