(CNN Philippines) — The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) and the newly-named Philippine Mavericks officially announced the details for this year’s tournament at a press conference at the Mall of Asia Arena on Thursday (May 21).

This IPTL comes back to the Philippines, whose Mavericks hope to improve on their third place finish last season, from December 6 to 8 at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The full schedule for the tournament will be released in June but Abhishek Ponia, IPTL Vice President of Operations, confirmed that Rafael Nadal of the defending champions Indian Aces is expected to play in the Manila leg.

Following a draft last April in Dubai, the Philippine Mavericks will be headlined by number one ranked women’s tennis player Serena Williams.

The rest of the Mavericks are composed of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, team captain Mark Philippoussis, Richard Gasquet, Jarmila Gajdosova, Borna Coric, Sabine Lisicki, and Fil-Am player-coach Treat Huey.

Mavericks team owner and team manager Jean-Henri Lhuiller is happy with the composition of his squad.

“Adding Serena really adds more depth to the team,” said Lhuiller. “We’ve got a well-rounded team that should be able to compete for the championship.”

The IPTL is composed of five teams: the Philippine Mavericks, the Singapore Slammers, the UAE Royals, the Indian Aces, and the newly founded Japan Warriors.

Tickets will be released on July 15 to be priced and structured in the same manner as the previous edition.