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  • Andy Murray Returns for second season Double Grand Slam Champ Wawrinka makes IPTL Debut

    Andy Murray Returns for second season Double Grand Slam Champ Wawrinka makes IPTL Debut

     MUMBAI:  Two-time Grand Slam winners, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have announced their participation in the second edition of the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) that kicks off today in Kobe, Japan and will run through to 20th December 2015 in Singapore.

     

    While Murray will be returning for the second season, Wawrinka will be making his debut in the five-nation tennis league, the only one of its kind in the world.

     

    Both Murray and Wawrinka will be playing for the OUE Singapore Slammers, along with fellow team-mates Nick Kyrgios, Belinda Bencic, Karolina Plíšková, Dustin Brown, Carlos Moya and Marcelo Melo.

     

    Novak Djokovic has chosen to withdraw from the second season. Djokovic played for the UAE Royals in the inaugural edition, and was drafted by the OUE Singapore Slammers for the second edition.

     

    On his non-participation, Novak Djokovic said, “I had a great experience in the inaugural edition of the IPTL and was eagerly looking forward to playing in the second season, especially in front of the home crowd in Singapore. It’s been a long year for meand my body needs some extra time to recover. I wish the team the very best and will join them next year.”

     

    Murray was part of the Manila Mavericks (re-christened ‘Philippine Mavericks’ in season two) in the inaugural edition and will be joining the OUE Singapore Slammers in the second season.

     

    Wawrinka and Murray join a formidable array of tennis superstars that include Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic, Nick Kyrgios among others. Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova,Ana Ivanovic, Kristina Mladenovic, Sania Mirza are just some of the names leading the women’s charge in the league.

     

    “We are glad to announce the return of Andy Murray and the debut of Stan Wawrinka in the IPTL. Both Murray and Wawrinka will add immense strength to the Slammers, upping the quality of tennis on display. Fans across the world can look forward to some exciting match-ups,” said Mahesh Bhupathi on behalf of the IPTL.

     

     The innovative, team-based, multi-nation tennis league has expanded to five teams for its second edition, with the Japan Warriors joining last season’s champions Indian Aces, alongside the Obi UAE Royals, the Philippine Mavericks and the OUE Singapore Slammers in a five-city swing that starts today in Japan and ends at Singapore’s Indoor Stadium for the grand finale on 20thDecember. The finals of Coca-Cola IPTL 2015 will see the top two teams in the league standings face off to determine the champion,winning the coveted trophy and prize money of USD 1 million, with the runner-up getting USD 500,000.

  • Coca-Cola teams up with IPTL as title sponsor

    Coca-Cola teams up with IPTL as title sponsor

    MUMBAI: The upcoming International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) has got a title sponsor in Coca-Cola.

     

    The brand which is associated with large sporting events ranging from the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, NASCAR, NBA etc is now making a foray into tennis through the tennis league.

     

    In its capacity as title sponsor, the cola company will undertake a series of initiatives to engage with tennis fans across the globe. These include a special promotion to select three lucky fans to be the ‘Coin Toss’ boys/girls for three matches.

     

    It will be adopting IPTL’s special competition feature called the Happiness PowerPoint, which will allow each team to call for a Happiness PowerPoint once in each single-set match. Upon winning the point, a player trailing 15-0 will directly get to 15-30 by winning the ‘Happiness PowerPoint’ and lose a point upon losing the Happiness PowerPoint. In case the score is tied at the end of five single-set matches, a seven point men’s singles shoot-out will be played and the result will count as a game point won.

     

    Coca-Cola India vice president marketing and commercial Debabrata Mukherjee said, “Our purpose of associating with the IPTL is twofold. On one hand, it will allow millions of passionate tennis fans to enjoy their favorite sport and also witness some of the world’s most iconic tennis stars display their skills. On the other hand this initiative will serve as a perfect platform to launch a ‘Culture of Tennis’ in India. The initiative will provide great impetus to the youngsters of today who will get inspired by some of the world’s most accomplished and inspirational tennis stars to take up the sport”.

     

    IPTL founder Mahesh Bhupathi commented, “I welcome Coca-Cola to the IPTL family today. We’re excited to present the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League to the growing base of tennis enthusiasts across the world and look forward to providing to them superior recognition and visibility among fans internationally.”

     

    In its inaugural season, the multi-million dollar tennis league will feature top stars such as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and others playing for four franchises in India, Singapore, Philippines and the UAE.

  • IPTL appoints UFA Sports as marketer of worldwide media rights

    IPTL appoints UFA Sports as marketer of worldwide media rights

    MUMBAI: The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) and UFA Sports have signed an extensive cooperation agreement wherein UFA Sports will act as the exclusive marketer of the media rights of the league.

     

    IPTL and UFA Sports agreement include the media rights distribution in the respective host countries as well as worldwide rights.

     

    IPTL, a brand new team tennis format, will be played across several countries in Asia. The first-ever edition will be held later this year. From 28 November to 13 December, tennis stars and legends like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras will compete in four franchise teams in Manila, Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai.

     

    The competition will feature a total of 21 Grand Slam champions and 14 current and former world number ones with a total prize money budget of over $29 million.

     

    Founder and multiple Grand-Slam winner Mahesh Bhupathi stated: “We are pleased to announce that UFA Sports will be the exclusive marketer of the worldwide media rights of the International Premier Tennis League. UFA Sports brings wide experience and a high level of expertise which will help the IPTL reach a global audience. UFA Sports is ideally placed to promote a unique concept like IPTL and we look forward a long association.”

     

    UFA Sports managing director Stefan Felsing commented, “The International Premier Tennis League is an extremely attractive, new format in the world of tennis with the potential to revolutionise the sport. We are glad to become a part of the development and to extend the UFA Sports portfolio with a high quality product.”

     

    The four teams will play a total of 24 matches in a round-robin format to determine the inaugural IPTL League Champion. Modeled after successful international sports franchise concepts, the IPTL combines world-class sports and entertainment in a format that keeps both, spectators and TV viewers completely engrossed. All matches will be produced in HD quality with IPTL graphics and commentary.

  • IPTL set to take the world of Tennis by storm

    IPTL set to take the world of Tennis by storm

    MUMBAI: Tennis is set to get a revolutionary league, the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), in which franchise teams based out of four Asian countries will compete. Each team will have six to ten players.

    The brainchild of India’s 12-time Grand Slam doubles champion Mahesh Bhupathi, the IPTL is inspired by the television-friendly format of twenty-20 cricket’s Indian Premier League in India. Bhupathi is the Managing Director of the league, a property owned by his company Globosport.

    The four franchises competing in the league will be based in Bangkok, Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore. Globosport has not disclosed the names of owners of the four franchisees.

    The tennis league has the backing of a galaxy of top tennis stars. Bhupati believes the event would be television, spectator and player-friendly because of its unique model. The tourney has been branded by world No. 1 Novak Djokovic as potentially “revolutionary”.

    Tennis super stars Djokovic, Andy Murray, Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal and legends Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras will feature in the league. The inaugural edition is expected to be held in December 2014, prior to the Australian Open.
     

    “We wanted a model which was TV friendly, spectator friendly and of course player friendly. The biggest complaint in tennis has been that you have no control over the time of a match. You don’t know if a Grand Slam final will be a two-hour match or a five-hour match. Here we are guaranteeing that it will be over in a maximum of three hours, so all are excited,” Bhupathi said.

    The owners of the four team owners spent a total of $23,975,000 in an auction for players held in Dubai on Sunday.

    The format involves 24 best-of-five round robin matches that will take place in the four cities between November 28 and December 13. The matches will consist of a set each for men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, and, if required, a legends singles tiebreak to decide the match. Unlike in a standard match of tennis, where the tiebreak would be invoked if the score reached 6-all in a set, it will be invoked if the score reaches 5-all in any set.
     

    Tennis players often complain of long season which gives them little time to rest and recover, but Bhupathi has managed to convince them to play in the league. Tennis is an individual sport, so we don’t get to play team competitions except for Davis cup and Fed Cup, so the players liked this concept of team event.

    On why Bhupathi, Justin Gimelstob, a member of the ATP board, and legend Boris Becker chose to concentrate on just Asia, Bhupathi said, “There is a big demand for tennis in the region. The players are involved in exhibition matches during the year. There’s a huge appetite for world class tennis here. That’s why the Asian cities.”

    Globosport had been working on the event for the past 15 months. “It’s not easy, since tennis is an individual sport. I spoke to a few players about the concept to make a team event where players will be bought by owners… that’s how it all started,” Bhupati expounded.

    Since India hosts just one top tier men’s event in Chennai Open and no WTA event, watching stars such as Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and Djokovic in action in Indian cities would surely be a treat to watch for Indian fans.
    Bhupathi also said governing bodies of the game, both ATP and WTA, were very supportive of his project. The IPTL will share all the centrally generated revenue with each of the franchises.

    All of those factors should result in a great, winning scenario for all involved – including tennis fans – in these parts of the world which are less frequented by top players. Sunday’s draft served as another element to the excitement, and the anticipation will build as the 2014 calendar year progresses and many of these players continue writing their respective legacies.

    The first fixtures are scheduled for November 28-30 in Singapore, before the tournament moves to Bangkok (December 2-4), Mumbai (December 7-9) and finally Dubai (December 11-13).

  • BBC to live-stream the tennis grand slam Wimbledon

    BBC to live-stream the tennis grand slam Wimbledon

    MUMBAI: The BBC will offer a never before seen 10 live streams as part of its coverage of this year‘s Wimbledon tennis tournament.

    The BBC said the streams, which will give viewers access to alternative courts, will be accessible across PC, tablet, mobile and connected TV from the BBC Sport website.

    Live text commentaries, news, videos, highlights and a regular column and Q&As with British tennis star Andy Murray will be featured online, with the BBC Sport app available free for Apple and Android devices.

    Coverage of the event will also be carried on the linear BBC One and BBC Two networks and on their respective HD feeds, and on BBC Radio 5 Live.