Tennis greats drafted in new IPTL league

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DUBAI: World No.1 Rafael Nadal has been drafted to represent Team Mumbai, Novak Djokovic will headline Team Dubai, while top WTA star Serena Williams will feature in Team Singapore, in the inaugural edition of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

Team owners and IPTL organisers – led by Indian doubles star Mahesh Bhupathi, the Managing Director of the league, held a draft on Sunday in Dubai where a total sum of 23,975,000 was spent across four teams to be based in Bangkok, Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore.

Nadal will be joined by 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras in Team Mumbai, while Djokovic has fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic, ex-world No1 Caroline Wozniacki and Arab No1 Malek Jaziri as his allies.

Teams owners are allowed to have up to 10 players in their roster. “We’ve got some unbelievably strong teams. I think out of the 28 players that got drafted we have about 21 Grand Slam champions. We have 14 present and past number ones. It’s a pretty blockbuster field,” Bhupathi said.

Partly modeled after the financially-successful Indian Premier League (IPL), the IPTL has been described by Djokovic as a “fantastic concept” while others like Roger Federer – a notable absentee from the player field – has been more cautious in his views on the idea.

“Firstly, I want to see whether it takes off or not. I know a lot of people have invested in it or are part of it,” Federer told reporters in Dubai last week.

“Anywhere where tennis grows is a good thing, so I hope it takes off and becomes very successful. In Asia, there is enormous potential – in places like China and India, due to the amount of people that live there and the excitement they have for tennis.”

Asia’s top male and female players, Kei Nishikori and Li Na are also missing from the player field, along with career Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova. — AFP