Aussie tennis stars Hewitt, Rafter and Kyrgios coming to Singapore

Nick Kyrgios, Lleyton Hewitt and Patrick Rafter. Pic: tennis.com.au

Thursday 8 May 2014

Aussies Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter and Nick Kyrgios are joining Serena Williams and Andre Agassi in Team Singapore in the inaugural edition of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

American legend Agassi confirmed this week he is a definite starter. The opening leg will take place in Bangkok on Nov 28-30, while Singapore will host the second leg from Dec 2-4. There will be subsequent legs in Dubai and Mumbai.

Team owners and IPTL organisers – led by Indian doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi, the managing director of the league, held a draft where a total sum of $US23,975,000 ($A26.8 million) was spent across four teams to be based in Bangkok, Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore.

Hewitt and Rafter are both two-time grand slam champions, with Hewitt having won the US Open in 2001 and Wimbeldon in 2002, while Rafter triumphed at back-to-back US Opens in 1997 and '98. Hewitt is the youngest world no. 1 in men's tennis history (2001, aged 20). 19-year-old Kyrgios is considered one of Australian tennis' rising stars.

World No.1 Rafael Nadal has been drafted to represent Team Mumbai and Novak Djokovic will headline Team Dubai.

Team Singapore
Tomas Berdych, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Serena Williams, Bruno Soares, Patrick Rafter, Daniela Hantuchova, Nick Krygios

Team Bangkok
Andy Murray, Jo Wilfred Tsonga, Victoria Azarenka, Daniel Nestor, Carlos Moya, Kirsten Flipkens

Team Mumbai
Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, Pete Sampras, Rohan Bopanna, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza, Fabrice Santoro

Team Dubai
Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Goran Ivanisevic, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic, Malek Jaziri, Martina Hingis