MANILA, Philippines – As opening salvo for our feature stories about the the second season of the International Premier Tennis League, Philstar.com lists 10 of the most amazing facts/trivias about the tennis stars who will join the tournament.
- Three of the icon players playing for three teams have a decent shot to be named GOAT or greatest of all time, led by the Swiss Maestro Roger Federer who has so far won 17 majors. Spaniard Rafa Nadal, also dubbed the King of Clay, has 14. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has 10.
- None of them thus far has won all the four majors twice. Federer has won only one French Open, Nadal is short of getting his second Australian Open championship, while Djokovic has yet to win the French.
- World no. 1 Serena Williams meanwhile is just one major shy of tying the record 22 grandslams won by Steffi Graf. Margaret Court, meanwhile, had 24 grandslams.
- Williams, the Philippine Mavericks' top star, had won five consecutive grandslams since the 2014 Wimbledon. This record was dubbed the Serena slam and many expected her to continue this remarkable streak until she fell to Italian Roberta Vinci in the semifinals of the US Open 2015. Still, there's no doubt that "Queen Serena" was the most dominant player in the women's circuit for this year.
- Djokovic, meanwhile, also won three of the four majors this year, with La Coupe des Mousquetaires or the trophy awarded to the champion of the men's single of the French Open still eluding him.
- The year 2015 was the first time since 2004 that Nadal did not win a major.
- Although Williams dominates on court, her main rival Maria Sharapova was reported by Forbes to be the highest paid among female athletes in 2014. She is said to rack up more earnings from her endorsement deals including her Nike line.
- Federer has four children with wife Mirka. The first two were identical twins Myla and Charlene born in 2009, and then the other two - also twins - Leo and Lenny were born in 2014.
- In 2011, when Djokovic began dominating the men's circuit, he credited his gluten-free diet as a factor in his improved game and physical condition.
- While many would profess to be a dog-lover, including Williams and Djokovic, Nadal has said he is scared of dogs because he thinks they are unpredictable.