Japan Warriors and UAE Royals will kick off the Indian leg of the International Premier Tennis League in New Delhi on Thursday.
The Warriors have struggled a little so far in their IPTL debut, and find themselves at the bottom of the standings after two legs.
The UAE Royals picked up a much-needed victory over the Singapore Slammers on the final day of the Philippine leg to take third spot, behind the Indian Aces and Philippine Mavericks.
The Royals beat the Singapore Slammers 26-23 earlier this week, and the team from the UAE, who boast of several stars, chief of them being Roger Federer, who might not feature in today's match, but is expected to clash with Rafael Nadal in the matchup with the Indian Aces on Saturday, will now want to carry that momentum in this match against the Japan Warriors.
"It was a great match, we're very happy to have won," Tomas Berdych said after the victory. "We are very happy with our match today.
"It was important for us to win, to get our confidence back, to find our rhythm. The last two matches, we were badly beaten by the Mavericks and the Aces, and the team was desperate for a win," Goran Ivanisevic added.
"It's a tough competition, even if you lose the match, it's important to win as many games as possible since every game counts. The team is working really hard, it's very competitive and clearly nobody wants to lose... you want to win it for the team, and that's what's great about the IPTL.
"I'm the oldest legend in the IPTL, at 44 it is hard but I'm loving the competition, and I want to win it for my team."
The Japan Warriors, who lost to the UAE Royals in the Japan leg of IPTL 2015, have not been able to create that winning momentum so far, but a win on Thursday could just put them on the path towards the top of the table.
Teams: Japan Warriors: Kurumi Nara, Maria Sharapova, Kei Nishikori, Leander Paes, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Marat Safin.
UAE Royals: Kristina Mladenovic, Ana Ivanovic, Daniel Nestor, Marin Cilic, Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer, Goran Ivanisevic.
Where to Watch Live
UAE Royals vs Japan Warriors is scheduled for a 4 pm IST (10.30 am GMT, 5.30 am ET) start. Live coverage of the match in India will be on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports 4 HD, while all the action can also be watched via live streaming online on Starsports.com and Hotstar.
Viewers in the US will be able to watch the IPTL live on the Tennis Channel, while the action can also be live streamed on Tennis Channel online.
Audience in the UK can catch the IPTL live on Sky Sports, with the live stream option on Sky Go.
Sports5 will broadcast the match live in the Philippines, while viewers in Singapore can watch the action on the SingTel network. Audience from SouthEast Asia can watch the action live on Fox Sports Asia.
