IPTL bandwagon moves to Capital * Federer, Djokovic, Sampras, Serena will be in action over the next three days
The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), which is the brainchild of doubles legend Mahesh Bhupathi, is here. Over the next three days, the Capital will witness the best players of the world will play the innovative and fast-paced format.
The IPTL, which kicked off in Manila last week, is another addition to the growing list of franchise-based leagues in the country. For the first time, tennis has a shorter, faster format. The exciting package, which is team-based and has the presence of top players, is already popular.
Manila Mavericks, Singapore Slammers, Indian Aces and UAE Royals are the four teams competing in the IPTL this year. Already, more than 50,000 fans have turned up in both Philippines and Singapore. And it won't be any different in India, which is all set to welcome 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
The New Delhi leg kicks off on Saturday, with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Lleyton Hewitt, Tomas Berdych and Ana Ivanovic all set to be in action. And there's Pete Sampras too.
The good news is that Federer is expected to arrive on Saturday. He will be part of the Indian Aces team, who lead the standings with 20 points.
Federer skipped the first two legs and speculation was rife that he would skip New Delhi too. But his tweet — "New Delhi you have no idea how excited i am to come play in #India — on Friday laid to rest all unwanted rumours.
The renovated Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium is sold out. What else did you expect? If only Andre Agassi, who played the Singapore leg, changes his mind and locks horns with long-time rival Sampras. Guess we'll have to make do with a Federer- Djokovic face-off!
Of late, India has become the experimental ground for every other sport. There is the Indian Super League (ISL), involving greats like Alessandro del Piero, Robert Pires, Nicolas Anelka and Luis Garcia. We have similar competitions in hockey, badminton and kabaddi.
Only last week, the Vijay Amritraj-promoted Champions Tennis League (CTL) also brought in stars like Venus Williams, Martina Hingis, Agnieszka Radwanska among others.
With modern and past masters of the game battling it out in a short 16-day competition, the IPTL is not lacking in glamour or stardust. The traditional rules of tennis have been tweaked smartly to make way for 'shot clock', 'shootout' and 'super shootout' to jazz up the tennis arena.
The format includes men's and women's singles, men's doubles, mixed doubles and legends singles matches. Each fixture will consist of five one-set matches, which would be decided by a four-minute shootout at 5-5 rather than a traditional tie-breaker.
There will be no advantage scores and the outcome will be decided by aggregating games won from all five matches rather than the match results. There will also be 'power points' which will give players a chance to double up on a point in each match before receiving serve. Other additions include time-outs.
The team with the most number of points will win the league and in the event of a tie in team standings, the team with the most match wins will be declared winner.
ATP president Chris Kermode has described the IPTL as "just a series of glorified exhibitions". But for its founder Bhupathi, the league "is a revolutionary team tennis event breaking through the boundaries of traditional tennis formats".
"It comes in as a refreshing change in an otherwise repetitive and very hectic tennis calendar," Bhupathi said. He hopes that this tournament will grow to from four to eight teams in the Asian region by 2020, with China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan among the potential destinations.
GIVE ME THE STARS
Manila Mavericks: Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Maria Sharapova, Carlos Moya
Singapore Slammers: Serena Williams, Tomas Berdych, Lleyton Hewitt, Patrick Rafter
Indian Aces: Roger Federer, Ana Ivanovic, Pete Sampras, Sania Mirza
UAE Royals: Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Caroline Wozniaki, Goran Ivanisevic
Playing on Saturday
UAE Royals vs Singapore Slammers, Indian Aces vs Manila Mavericks
Live on: Star Sports 1, 4 pm onwards
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