Theres no rest for Roger. Back near the top of the rankings, and fresh from his long-awaited Davis Cup triumph with Switzerland, Roger Federer is getting ready for the International Premier Tennis League that gets under way on Friday.Joining Federer in the franchise-based, short-format competition will be the top-ranked players in mens and womens tennis, with Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams also signed up to play.The IPTL will launch with a tournament at Manila this week. Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai are the other stops for the $ 1 million event that runs till Dec. 13.Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras are among the retired greats wholl feature in the tournament that will be contested by four teams — the Manila Mavericks, Singapore Slammers, Indian Aces and United Arab Emirates Royals.It is a revolutionary team tennis event breaking through the boundaries of traditional tennis formats, IPTL founder and former doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi said ahead of the tournament, which he hopes to convert to an eight-team league by 2020. But we need to be sustainable and we dont want to be too aggressive — we want to make sure that along the lines other people also see it as a viable business model.The format includes mens and womens singles, mens doubles, mixed doubles and legends singles matches. Essentially, its an exhibition with a competitive streak.Each fixture will consist of five one-set matches, which could be decided by a four-minute shootout at 5-5 rather than a traditional tiebreaker. There will be no advantage scores and the outcome will be decided by aggregating games won from all five matches rather than the match results.There will also be power points which will give players a chance to double up on a point in each match by nominated it before receiving serve. Other additions include time-outs.Williams, who won the season-ending WTA title in Singapore last month, said Im looking forward to coming back to Singapore and playing for the Singapore Slammers. I hope youll ... enjoy a new format of tennis.No. 9-ranked Marin Cilic said playing in Asia was part of the appeal.When Im in Asia, I always have good experiences and I always feel welcome, Cilic said. Asian fans are very faithful and I appreciate that a lot.Federer is an advocate of shorter formats in the game. Hell also be playing former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in another shortened, faster form of the game in Sydney ahead of the Australian Open.Players fought long and hard for more time off to rest and recuperate between seasons, and the official off-season now extends for more than a month on the mens and womens tours. So participation of the star players in the IPTL has raised some questions about scheduling and fatigue management.The 33-year-old Federer helped Switzerland clinch its first Davis Cup title last weekend in France, and the 17-time major winner will start his 2015 at the Brisbane International on Jan. 5, a key warm-up tournament to the Australian Open.ATP president Chris Kermode last month described the IPTL as just a series of glorified exhibitions.I actually dont have a problem with it, he told reporters in Shanghai. It isnt the ATPs business what the players did in the off-season, even if they criticize the duration of the tour and then jet away to play exhibition events when the curtain falls on the calendar.The IPTL is another addition to a growing list of franchise-based leagues run out of India following the massive success of crickets Twenty20 Indian Premier League.There is an Indian Soccer League involving players such as Nicolas Anelka, Alessandro Del Piero, Robert Pires and Luis Garcia, as well as similar competitions in field hockey and kabaddi.______________________Top players in the IPTL:Manila Mavericks: Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Maria Sharapova, Carlos Moya.Singapore Slammers: Serena Williams, Tomas Berdych, Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter.Indian Aces: Roger Federer, Ana Ivanovic, Pete Sampras, Sania Mirza.UAE Royals: Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Caroline Wozniaki, Goran Ivanisevic. 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JOHNS, N.BALTIMORE -- Left-handed reliever Troy Patton returned from his 25-game suspension Thursday, part of a roster shuffle by the Baltimore Orioles that included the activation of Manny Machado from the 15-day disabled list. Patton was placed on the restricted list testing positive for a banned amphetamine. Patton took Adderall, a drug commonly used to combat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, late in the 2013 season and then was given a random drug test. The suspension cost him $174,180 of his $1,275,000 salary. Patton went 2-0 with a 3.70 ERA in a career-high 56 appearances for the Orioles last year. He made four rehab appearances with Triple-A Norfolk. To make room for Patton, the Orioles sent reliever Josh Stinson outright to Norfolk. Machado hadnt played since left knee surgery on Oct. 14. The third baseman was not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against Pittsburgh on Thursday, but manager Buck Showalter said Machado would start in the nightcap. Machado was poised to return Tuesday, but rain postponed Baltimores game against the Pirates. The same thing happened Wednesday, creating the need for a single-admission doubleheader. "Manny wasnt going to play 18 innings first day back from rehab," Showalter said. "We could have waited to activate him, but we would use him in the first game if the right situation presented itself." The 21-year-oldd Machado takes the roster spot vacated by first baseman Chris Davis, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a strained left oblique.dddddddddddd Davis had a platelet rich plasma injection on Monday. "What they do is they draw your own blood and spin it, then they take the platelets and inject them back into your body," Davis said. "Its supposed to speed up the healing process and take the place of a cortisone shot." Davis believes the treatment was having the desired effect. "I had (the shot) on Monday. It was pretty painful," he said. "Tuesday I was sore and Wednesday I was sore. Today I feel better. Hopefully I am recovering and it will heal." Davis led the majors last year with 53 homers and 138 RBIs. Hes gotten off to a slow start this season -- he has only two home runs -- but hopes to return soon to add to the total. "I got off to my hottest start ever last year so there was a lot of excitement," he said. "I knew it was probably not going to happen again. But I felt like I was getting good at-bats and making things happen." Also Thursday, the Orioles optioned infielder Steve Lombardozzi to Norfolk to make room for first baseman Steve Pearce, who was signed to a major league contract Tuesday after being designated for assignment last week. Lombardozzi batted .292 in 19 games this season. ' ' '