IPTL 2015: Andy Murray to play for Singapore Slammers in Dubai

Wednesday 2 December 2015 15:46, UK

Andy Murray will play in this year's International Premier Tennis League with the Singapore Slammers in Dubai.

The world No 2, who led Great Britain to Davis Cup glory at the weekend, did not make himself available for the short-format competition's player draft back in April.

However, he has now agreed to take part in the tournament when it visits Dubai later this month as it coincides with a training block he is undertaking in the Middle East, where he is heading this winter rather than his usual Miami base.

Murray, who last year competed in the event for the Manila Mavericks, will play for the Singapore Slammers and comes in following Novak Djokovic's decision to withdraw from the event after a long season.

Djokovic had been due to be the Slammers' star turn but a combination of Murray and Stan Wawrinka will now fill in for the Serb.

Wawrinka joins Nick Kyrgios on the Slammers team; the pair famously fell out after the Australian made comments about Wawrinka's girlfriend during a match in Montreal in August.

Djokovic said: "I had a great experience in the inaugural edition of the IPTL and was eagerly looking forward to playing in the second season, especially in front of the home crowd in Singapore. It's been a long year for me and my body needs some extra time to recover. I wish the team the very best and will join them next year."

Djokovic has a two-year deal with the Slammers.

Belinda Bencic, Karolina Pliskova, Dustin Brown, Carlos Moya and Marcelo Melo make up the rest of the Slammers team.

Other late team changes include Sam Stosur replacing Agnieszka Radwanska in the Indian Aces' team.

Murray and Wawrinka join a host of other star names in the tournament, which began on Wednesday in Japan and continues at venues across Asia until December 20.

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will all take part, although most players will limit their appearances and won't compete in every match.