Hockey, badminton, boxing, football, golf - every sport is trying to or has tried to emulate cricket's Indian Premier League. So far none of these has come remotely close to achieving the commercial success of the cricket model. The latest to join the bandwagon is tennis - with the International Tennis Premier League, ITPL.
ITPL is the brainchild of Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, who plans to have the best tennis players in the world compete against each other as part of a city franchise. ITPL will have four teams - Mumbai, Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok - which will each consist of a mixed bag of top players, former legends and young players. It will see teams playing 24 matches across the four cities in a round-robin format.
For those starved of world-class tennis in the country, it will be a treat to see World No 1 Rafael Nadal in Mumbai colours, along with Pete Sampras, Sania Mirza, Ana Ivanovic and Gael Monfils. Novak Djokovic is part of the Dubai team along with Caroline Wozniacki, Goran Ivanisevic and Martina Hingis, among others. Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was bought by Bangkok and has as team mates Victoria Azarenka, Jo Wilfred Tsonga and Carlos Moya. Leading Singapore's challenge will be Serena Williams and former World No 1 Andre Agassi, Tomas Berdych, Lleyton Hewitt, Bruno Soares and Patrick Rafter.
The idea behind ITPL is to raise the profile of tennis in Asia and Central Asia, but there are already murmurs of discontent. Agassi has been quoted as saying he isn't sure about his participation as he had been told the tournament would last for five days and not 16. While admitting that it was an innovative concept, he also said that he wasn't sure who the owners of his franchise were.
Many other things about ITPL are similarly mysterious. Nobody knows who owns the four teams - in fact, as of now, there are more questions than answers around ITPL. What is in it for the owners, fans and sponsors? Will fans actually care about the tennis or is it just a chance to see Nadal and Sampras in flesh? With the matches comprising just a single set, will it be competitive or just another exhibition fun? For the players, it does portend an excellent payday, with the big names earning seven-figure salaries for two weeks. Nadal will reportedly take home $1 million per match. Compare this with the $2-2.5 million he gets for winning a gruelling Grand Slam, and this seems like easy money.
A prominent daily had reported that Hyderabad-based Prasad V Potluri, who has business interests in real estate and movie production, has poured money into the Mumbai franchise. The identity of the other owners is still under wrap. Bhupathi, in an earlier interview, had said that tennis needed a change and ITPL could be the device to do this. But until ITPL spells out the finer details, it is difficult to say whether Bhupathi has an ace up his sleeve or will only serve a double fault. If the earlier "me-too IPLs" are anything to go by, ITPL will have to do more than come up with a logo to win the love game.
ITPL is the brainchild of Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, who plans to have the best tennis players in the world compete against each other as part of a city franchise. ITPL will have four teams - Mumbai, Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok - which will each consist of a mixed bag of top players, former legends and young players. It will see teams playing 24 matches across the four cities in a round-robin format.
For those starved of world-class tennis in the country, it will be a treat to see World No 1 Rafael Nadal in Mumbai colours, along with Pete Sampras, Sania Mirza, Ana Ivanovic and Gael Monfils. Novak Djokovic is part of the Dubai team along with Caroline Wozniacki, Goran Ivanisevic and Martina Hingis, among others. Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was bought by Bangkok and has as team mates Victoria Azarenka, Jo Wilfred Tsonga and Carlos Moya. Leading Singapore's challenge will be Serena Williams and former World No 1 Andre Agassi, Tomas Berdych, Lleyton Hewitt, Bruno Soares and Patrick Rafter.
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The 24 matches of IPTL will be played between November 28 and December 13 this year, with the teams competing by turn in each city. A "match" will consist of a men's singles, a women's singles, a men's doubles, a mixed doubles and a legends' singles, all of a set each. ITPL is scheduled to start in Singapore and end in Dubai.
The idea behind ITPL is to raise the profile of tennis in Asia and Central Asia, but there are already murmurs of discontent. Agassi has been quoted as saying he isn't sure about his participation as he had been told the tournament would last for five days and not 16. While admitting that it was an innovative concept, he also said that he wasn't sure who the owners of his franchise were.
Many other things about ITPL are similarly mysterious. Nobody knows who owns the four teams - in fact, as of now, there are more questions than answers around ITPL. What is in it for the owners, fans and sponsors? Will fans actually care about the tennis or is it just a chance to see Nadal and Sampras in flesh? With the matches comprising just a single set, will it be competitive or just another exhibition fun? For the players, it does portend an excellent payday, with the big names earning seven-figure salaries for two weeks. Nadal will reportedly take home $1 million per match. Compare this with the $2-2.5 million he gets for winning a gruelling Grand Slam, and this seems like easy money.
A prominent daily had reported that Hyderabad-based Prasad V Potluri, who has business interests in real estate and movie production, has poured money into the Mumbai franchise. The identity of the other owners is still under wrap. Bhupathi, in an earlier interview, had said that tennis needed a change and ITPL could be the device to do this. But until ITPL spells out the finer details, it is difficult to say whether Bhupathi has an ace up his sleeve or will only serve a double fault. If the earlier "me-too IPLs" are anything to go by, ITPL will have to do more than come up with a logo to win the love game.