Dubai: Indian tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi is convinced his International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) will help the sport flourish in the relatively untapped markets of Asia and the Middle East.
Speaking exclusively to Gulf News from India on the eve of the event’s launch in Paris on Friday, Bhupathi said the new competition would harness the enthusiasm for the sport in this part of the world.
The veteran doubles player-cum-entrepreneur has been toying with his dream project for the past few months. After postponing the initial scheduled launch in Miami, the multiple Grand Slam winner has fixed Friday — just two days before the start of the French Open at Roland Garros — as the new date.
Loosely based on the idea of cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL), the IPTL will be a franchise-based professional tennis league boasting
some of the sport’s biggest names and will be played over three weeks during the ATP and WTA off-seasons in December.
“It is being created to cater to Asia’s burgeoning masses that are keen on following a diverse choice of sports entertainment,” Bhupathi said. “Tennis ranks in the top-three sports of interest, with audiences hungry for more content featuring local heroes and international stars.”
The promoters of the event will be the Dubai-based ITPL Holding Management company, which includes Morgan Menaham, chief executive officer and director of 360 Management; Bhupathi as managing director; former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker as member of the board and Spanish former world No 1 Carlos Moya in charge of player recruitment.
As many as 27 of the top 30 players from the ATP and WTA Tours have already shown a willingness to play in the annual competition, which will be held on a home-and-away basis. They include men’s stars Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Janko Tipsarevic and Thomas Berdych, and Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova among the women. Legends Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi have also committed, according to Bhupathi.
Just like the IPL, the IPTL will see each franchise acquire players through an auction, with the talent categorised either as marquee or category A, B or C players.
“We are in the process of firming up the criteria for the auction, including the base prices for the players, purchase purse and other related issues,” Bhupathi said.
“The top four teams will advance to the semi-finals followed by the third place play-off and final sometime before Christmas.”
