Tennis Set For Twenty20 Style Facelift
Tennis could become the latest sport to attempt its own version of cricket’s Twenty20 format, according to media reports.
Based on the Indian Premier League (IPL), The Times suggests that a November launch has been readied for the first International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), which will be played across Asia and will be backed by princes and governments across the region and the Middle East.
The report also indicates that the IPTL will be modelled on a city-based franchise league format – similar to the IPL – including current grand slam champions as well past legends of the game.
The UK newspaper states that the inaugural league will be staged from late November until just before Christmas, with matches played on a home-and-away basis across Asia.
It is understood that a number of the sport’s top stars in the men’s and women’s game are already contracted to the IPTL and will be auctioned to an initial six teams.
Indian sports, entertainment and new media agency Globosport – founded by Indian doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi – is said to be behind the plans.
An IPTL match is planned to consist of five sets, with no-advantage scoring, and each match would consist of one set each of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and a legends singles – in a format designed to ensure matches do not exceed three hours.
Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams have all been linked with the new-look format.
