Hindi film actor and director Farhan Akhtar was announced as the co-owner of the Mumbai franchise, which was also unveiled as Mumbai Tennis Masters, of the Champions Tennis League here on Wednesday.
On October 1 when the league was launched, there was lack of clarity regarding the Mumbai franchise and its ownership. Akhtar will own the team in partnership with 26-year-old businessman Santosh P Rohit Reddy, Aurobindo Pharma based in Hyderabad.
Seeking to clear doubts over why Akhtar was absent during the launch of the league, Reddy said,
"When we came to know that Mumbai didn't have a representative at the launch, we were quick to make our interest felt.
"Things have only been finalised in the past two weeks. It's my and the company's first foray into sports. Farhan and I got together through a mutual friend and we took things from there. The investment for the tournament may be a lot (each team paying $1million) but it is also a sense of passion for the game being there as well," said Reddy.
Due to lack of a representative at the launch last month, the Mumbai franchise were allotted the last four players left in the roster (Sergi Bruguera, Tommy Robredo, Alize Cornet, Sriram Bala). Reddy seemed content with the players at his disposal.
"We're happy with the team we have. These guys are top ranked players and it would be unfair to them if I said I would have chosen another set of players. The team, along with the two juniors (Pranjala Yadlapalli and Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash), looks promising and it's a case of these individuals coming together as a team. I can't wait to get started."
It was also announced that the matches will be played in the city on November 23 and 24 at the Kalina Tennis courts in Santacruz. Organisers said that work is going on to increase the seating capacity to close to 5,000.
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