Dubai: The founder of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) is confident his brainchild will continue to evolve into a much bigger brand with at least another four potential players lining up.

Mahesh Bhupathi’s IPTL will hold its second edition from December 2-20 with Japan the lone addition to the existing teams representing India, Philippines, Singapore and the UAE.

The Indians Aces finished with 39 points, just two points away from runners-up UAE Royals, while the Philippines Mavericks finished third (35 points) and the Singapore Slammers (24) came in fourth.

However, this year Japan has entered the fray riding on the fine run of form of Kei Nishikori, who has risen to World No. 4 in the ATP men’s rankings. Nishikori is the only male Japanese tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top-10, and also the first-ever male player from an Asian country to reach a Grand Slam singles final (in the 2014 US Open against Marin Cilic).

“Getting Japan into the IPTL fold will help in a big way as Japan is a big market commercially. And with Kei being as big as he is now with a cult following, the IPTL will receive a huge boost. For me, Japan has been a huge addition to the league. And it was necessary to have Japan on board to complement the Indian and Middle East market,” Bhupathi told Gulf News.

“There has been considerable interest from other places such as Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea and China. But we will need to be very careful while choosing the next venue and the partners. Having local stars makes a huge difference. In India, we have Sania [Mirza], Rohan [Bopanna] and Leander [Paes]. In Manila, we have Treat Huey and now in Japan we have Kei [Nishikori],” he added.

Given this scenario, Bhupathi is quite excited with the prospect of South Korean Hyeon Chung making a dash into the top-100 with some gutsy performances in recent months. Hyeon is currently ranked No.69 on the ATP Men’s Tour and Bhupathi feels he can get even better. “So for me, the priority now is Korea because this kid [Hyeon Chung] is so good and a potential top-20 player. We will see how it goes and it is too early to tell,” Bhupathi related.

The IPTL will run with five teams for two seasons owing to a cramped schedule in 2016 due to the Rio Olympic Games. “China is definitely on the radar too, but besides China we have others like Vietnam, Indonesia and Korea. We are not really going to add a new franchise next year, so let’s just wait and watch,” he added.