The draft picks for the much-hyped International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) took place in our backyard in Dubai on Sunday, but the project has still not really taken the game’s fraternity by storm.
The most uncomfortable question that possibly gnaws at the fans’ mind is: How serious will be the competition be?
If you take a look at the marquee players set to feature in the league — with the exception of Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova — one has to acknowledge that it cannot get any bigger than this.
The concern possibly stems from other angles: the format of the tournament, along with the fact that such experiments have only met with moderate success in the past, does not inspire much enthusiasm as of date.
The one-set matches, as per the IPTL rules, are hardly expected to give the contest a serious profile, even if a Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are sparring in the middle.
There is another between-the-lines clause which says the marquee players may only play in their home matches and not travel — which effectively means that while Dubai can catch up with their favourite ‘Djoker,’ the fans here may be deprived of the likes of Nadal or Andy Murray for the showpieces.
The soundbytes from Andre Agassi, the American legend signed up by IPTL, barely a day after the draft picks were announced also struck a somewhat discordant note.
The former world No.1 says he is ready to skip the league should it clash with Thanksgiving Day — making it quite clear as to where his priorities lie.
It’s been a casting coup for Mahesh Bhupathi, the Indian doubles star and entrepreneur who has worked behind the scenes for over two years now to put everything in place.
Much like cricket’s Indian Premier League (IPL), which has been the inspiration behind the effort, it’s mega-bucks which have swayed the stars to take to the courts in the off-season — some of these players were staunch critics of the ATP’s ‘prolonged’ Tour not so long ago.
Bhupathi and his team, however, have missed a trick in the way the draft was conducted behind closed doors at a Dubai hotel.
Not only were the media out of bounds, there were no answers to relevant queries such as the price tags of the top players, franchise owners — details that would have added a sense of drama to an otherwise historic occasion.
This only led to some wild guesses in the media, like that of the world No.1 standing to earn $1.1 million (Dh4.03 million) per night.
The earlier such speculation is laid to rest, the better it is for the profile of this revolutionary concept.
