DUBAI With top tennis stars expected to get into action in the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) from next month, the excitement has reached fever pitch. The event promises to draw a lot of attention due to the big names from the current and former tennis generations confirming participation. Among them are 18-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras to name a few.
World-class event
“There’s a high level of enthusiasm among players, fans and the tennis fraternity across the world,” said Mahesh Bhupathi, founder of IPTL “The event will offer many fans a first-time opportunity to watch a number of tennis stars in action. We’re glad the results of more than two years of work will finally appear before us in the form of a world-class event,” he added.
The Philippines will host the first leg of the IPTL from November 20 to 30 before it moves to Singapore on December 2 to 4. The third leg will be in India from December 6 to 8 before it culminates in the UAE for the final leg on December 11 to 13.
“They’re (players) in touch with each other, understanding the team format in order to adapt, discussing strategy, and practicing to use the new rules to get the better of their opponents,” Bhupathi said.
The IPTL will be played with an entirely different format. Each match consists of five sets played by different players that will include men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and Legends singles. Each game won counts as one point and the team that wins the most games overall across the five sets wins the match.
The UAE team looks formidable, having in its ranks Djokovic, Marin Cilic, who was recently roped in after his US Open success, Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Goran Ivanisevic, Nenad Zimonjic and top Arab player Malek Jaziri.
“This promises to attract a completely new audience to the sport, who can watch their favorite stars live and get inspired to take up the sport. Backed by the right kind of nurturing and good player development opportunities, I’m sure the host countries will experience improvement in the level of the sport,” said Bhupathi.
