5 big weapons in the UAE Royals team that will be tough for all IPTL teams to counter

Daniel Nestor was a doubles specialist in his heyday

Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic will be the Royals’ key players2014 IPTL runners-up UAE Royals are blessed with a perfect blend of raw power and finesse. With an enviable line-up that consists of 20 singles Slam titles, the Royals certainly look well-poised to lay their hands on the IPTL trophy for the first time. The team members – Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Goran Ivanisevic, Daniel Nestor, Ana Ivanovic and Kristina Mladenovic – are very much capable of forcing other teams into submission through their talent. And all of these players have got some massive weapons in their arsenal too.Here are the five major weapons from the UAE Royals team members that all the other teams in the IPTL will struggle to counter:

#5 Daniel Nestor\'s nifty doubles skills and experience

Daniel Nestor was a doubles specialist in his heyday

Doubles legend Daniel Nestors vast experience in doubles is an asset to any team. TheUAE Royals team strength got boosted considerably by the addition of the 43-year-oldCanadian, who played for Manila Mavericks last year.

With an illustrious resume of 88 career doubles titles that includes eight mens doublesSlam crowns apart from four mixed doubles titles, the former World No. 1 is one of themost revered players in the history of the game. His humongous number of careerdoubles wins 999 coupled with his impressive longevity gives the southpaw an edgeover others any day.

The Sydney Olympic gold medallist is any doubles teams nightmare due to his pinpointplacement of the ball and his volleying skills. Moreover, Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovics presence is an added advantage. TheCanadian-French duo have had tremendous success in mixed doubles, annexing the2013 Wimbledon and the 2014 Australian Open titles, besides reaching the 2013

French Open final. With such a well-matched team, the UAE Royals look primed toperform strongly in mixed doubles

#4 Goran Ivanisevic\'s serve

Ivanisevic with the 2001 Wimbledon trophy

Former World No. 2 Goran Ivanisevics serve was widely regarded as the most dangerous weapon on the men's tour during his playing days, and it can still give hisopponents a run for their money.During Ivanisevic's professional career, his hard and super-fast serve regularly clockedover 135mph. What made it even more of an ordeal for his rivals was that his leftydelivery was extremely deceptive due to his crouching motion and low toss.

Quite justifiably, the Croat is the proud possessor of some of the most staggering statsrelated to serve. He had the maximum number of career aces until this year (10,131)and still has the record of most aces in a season (1,477).

In his memorable 2001 campaign at Wimbledon, where he won the title as a wildcard,Ivanisevic served up a mammoth 213 aces! He even prompted 14-time Major championand former Indian Aces player Pete Sampras to comment: He is the one guy who canserve me off the court.

13 years after his winning run at SW19, it is a delight to see that the Croat has passeddown his knowledge and serving skills to his protg, Marin Cilic also a UAE Royalsmember. Ivanisevic's advice fetched Cilic his maiden Major title at the 2014 US Open,where his serve was easily his biggest asset.

He helped me a lot with my serve and in all areas he was a huge help. Goran knowstennis, said Cilic in March this year.

Goran certainly does!

#3 Tomas Berdych\'s backhand

Berdychs all round game adds to the teams repertoire

2010 Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych has cemented his place in the top 10 the last five years and has the potential to thwart the very best in the game. The World No.6 Czechs flat strokes are tailor-made for faster courts, and his gigantic serve can givequite a few headaches to his rivals.

The explosive baseliners backhand is one of his most consistent and dependable shotsthat can hold up even under the most intense pressure. Berdych's power and accuracyon that wing aid him in rallies as well as in point-ending single shots.

The backhand angles that he can come up with from almost every part of the courtmake him a truly menacing opponent. The following video gives a good example of that;the off-backhand that Berdych was able to summon at the 2014 ATP World Tour Finalsagainst Marin Cilic in their round robin clash, left the Croat wrong-footed.

Moreover, Berdych's 6'5" frame helps him generate plenty of power on his serve, whosespeed can go well over over 130mph. His forehand is not too shabby either, and when he is feeling confident, he hits it with total abandon to rack up the winners.

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#2 Ana Ivanovic\'s forehand

Ivanovics forehand is one of the Royals biggest weapons

Former World No. 3 Nadia Petrova said in 2007 about Ana Ivanovics forehand: Anasforehand is the best by far.Even after eight years, that forehand still remains one of the most lethal weapons on theWTA tour.

Endowed with pace and power, Ivanovic's flat forehand is truly a thing ofbeauty; you can't help but be awed by it as it whizzes past her opponents.Both the crosscourt and the down-the-line forehands of the Serb have aided her inunleashing glorious winners throughout her career.

And the forehand was definitely one of the biggest reasons why Ivanovic captured the French Open in 2008 andsubsequently ascended to the No. 1 ranking.Over the years, the Serb has fortified the other parts of her game as well to help put herin position to strike the decisive blow with her most confident shot.

Her backhand is nowone of her most consistent strokes and she uses it mostly to stay in the rallies in orderto set up her forehand winner.This rally with Maria Sharapova in the 2014 Cincinnati semi-finals gives a peek of howdevastating Anas biggest weapon can be.

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#1 (Almost) everything about Roger Federer\'s game

Roger Federer is a new addition to the outfit this year

Any team will have a mountain of confidence and self-belief if it can count RogerFederer among its members! The 17-time Major champion's aura, persona and positiveattitude can motivate any team member, and all that is in addition to the maestros well-rounded game.

Federers effortless, fluid style of play is apt for any court and any surface, which is whythe Swiss has an astounding 1,059 victories in his professional career spread over 17years. But the individual parts of his game are irresistible too.

American author David Foster Wallace once described the icons forehand motion as agreat liquid whip. It is a head-turning shot and is strikingly efficient whether hit withtopspin or with flat pace. Federer's flawless technique enables him to hit crosscourt,inside-out and inside-in shots on this wing with ease and precision.

His single-handed backhand gives the impression of a painters stroke when he can findthe angle. Lately with the addition of a bigger racquet head, Federers traditionallyweaker wing has had better results in standing up to the test of powerful baselinerallies.

Even at 34, the Swiss ace's swift footwork on the court and his net-rushing game cangive the sports top players a trying time. Then there's his serve - Federer is adept athitting well-disguised serves that can clock over 120mph, and he is one of only fourplayers in history to have struck more than 9,000 aces in their career.

Although his second serve return can sometimes be erratic, Federer's sense ofanticipation and his sharp reflexes help make him one of the world's best first servereturners. The big servers have never been able to pose much of a challenge to him.

The guile that Federer has on the court makes him constantly re-invent himself and addnew shots to his repertoire, like the tweener or the SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger); thelatter became a major talking point at the US Open this year.

When Roger Federer is on the court, you can expect magic on the court too! Hisincredible volley against Novak Djokovic in the 2014 Dubai semifinals is a huge testament to that.

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