‘THE WAY TENNIS COULD BE’ | Innovative IPTL featuring Murray, Sharapova kicks off in Manila “We want to break the code, but not break the rules,” said International Premiere Tennis League (IPTL) COO Eric Gottschalk. In a nutshell, that is what the IPTL aims to do with tennis in this revolutionary new tournament, which will kick off in Manila November 28 and move on to Singapore, India and the UAE in the coming days. With a shorter and quicker format of play, the IPTL turns tennis into a game tailor-made for TV and cranks up the excitement level for the viewers and fans. New Format No advantage scoring and a 20 second service shot clock are some of the innovative changes that the IPTL is implementing, together with a “Happiness Power Shot,” where a receiving player can get double points on the next point. Matches are decided based on the total number of games won – not via the total number of sets won, which will see teams fighting it out till the very end. A match will be composed of five players from five different categories: Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Mixed Doubles and Legends Singles and all matches will have five sets played. The Way Tennis Could Be “We are going in the right direction and if other people are going to the same direction then I think that it’s only great because it proves to us that this is the way tennis could be. I’m not saying it should be, but could be,” says IPTL CEO Morgan Menahem, in response to reports that Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt are set to play a similar short tennis scoring format prior to the start of the 2015 Australian Open. “Players all wanted to be part of this. This is the future – the shorter format like what was done in cricket. New spectators are needed for tennis and this format will draw families to watch.” “Hopefully, this will open the eyes and ears of a lot of people.” New Venues for Tennis The Micromax Indian Aces’ Fabrice Santoro stresses the importance of playing in new places: “It is important to bring tennis somewhere else, aside from the usual places.” Reigning US Open Champion Marin Cilic echoes this sentiment, “This is an opportunity for us to play in Asia. Fans are going to like the quicker format of play.” The Manila Mavericks are represented by playing captain Treat Huey, Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Kristen Flipkens, Daniel Nestor and Carlos Moya. Ana Ivanovic, Daniela Hantuchova, Kristen Flipkens, Patrick Rafter, Nick Kyrgios, and Lleyton Hewitt were seen hitting the practice courts and looked ready to go. Murray and Sharapova were due to arrive last night. Serena Williams is due to play on Sunday, November 30. It is hoped that fan response to the event will be encouraging. After all, it isn’t everyday we see tennis stars in the flesh in the country. Organizers stopped short of confirming a second edition next year, but a healthy response from fans certainly would not hurt the cause. Tennis, like many other sports in the country, has been in the shadows for too long. The IPTL tournament being held here certainly is the shot in the arm that the sport needs. interaksyon/interaktv/the-way-tennis-could-be-innovative-iptl-featuring-murray-sharapova-kicks-off-in-manila -admin agustine
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 05:01:06 +0000