Fans will turn up: IPTL organisers

SINGAPORE — The inaugural US$1 million (S$1.3 million) International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) starting in two weeks (Dec 2 to 4) may be missing the likes of world No 1 Novak Djokovic, Swiss maestro Roger Federer (2), and American legend Pete Sampras, but organisers are confident that the league’s new four-team, four-city format and roster of tennis superstars will draw fans to the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Tickets to the three-day tournament here have been selling well, said Vikas Gehlot, chief executive officer of the DBS Singapore Slammers, with tickets for the first day at the 10,000-seater arena close to selling out.

The inaugural season of the IPTL starts in Manila next Friday, before travelling to Singapore, New Delhi and Dubai. Prices for daily and three-day passes to the Singapore leg are pegged at S$49 to S$280, and S$128 to $690, respectively, while tickets in Manila will cost from S$72 to S$1,689 (three-day pass); New Delhi S$63 to S$966, three-day pass; and daily tickets in Dubai are priced at S$25 to S$160.

“Ticket sales traction has been really good of late. (While) the sales for the rest of the days are not doing as well as the first day … (they) will be almost 50 per cent sold. But once people watch all the stars here, it will pick up,” said Gehlot on the sidelines of DBS Bank’s sponsorship announcement with the Singapore Slammers yesterday.

“The ticket prices for Singapore were (decided by) analysing other tournaments here and we saw what the Singapore market was willing to pay,” he added.

“In terms of value for money and seeing the stars, I think it is well-priced. In other tennis competitions, usually you pay for a ticket and you watch two players play or four players (doubles) play. But you buy a ticket here, and you are going to watch all 20 players.”

Modelled after cricket’s highly-successful Indian Premier League, the IPTL will see four franchise teams from each city competing in a new mixed-team format featuring current stars and legends such as women’s world No 1 Serena Williams, Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt for the DBS Singapore Slammers, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (Manila Mavericks), Gael Monfils and Ana Ivanovic (Indian Aces), and UAE Royals’ Marin Cilic, Caroline Wozniacki and Eugenie Bouchard.

DBS Bank has put its money behind the Singapore Slammers in a one-year sponsorship deal for an undisclosed sum, and group chief executive Piyush Gupta said: “It is the inaugural year and the truth is nobody knows how it’s going to work. Singapore is positioning itself as a sports and entertainment destination, and a format of this sort can serve as a fantastic ongoing agenda item in Singapore’s annual array of entertainment and sport. It can create massive buzz, if they get it right, this can be like another F1 in time to come.”

Despite rival leagues such as the newly-launched Champions Tennis League muscling in on the international tennis market, IPTL’s founder and managing director Mahesh Bhupathi is not worried about the competition. Founded by former player Vijay Amritraj, the ongoing Champions League will travel across six Indian cities and feature current and former players such as Jelena Jankovic, Leander Paes, Venus Williams and Martina Hingis playing in a unique team format.

Twelve-time Grand Slam doubles and mixed doubles champion Bhupathi is aiming to expand the league from four to eight teams by 2020 with an eye on cities in China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan.

“As far as tennis goes, we are the gold class, we’ve got world-class players and we’re pretty excited about it. We’ll have to see (if there is room for more leagues), I’m focused on my league and executing it.

“We want to make sure people have a great experience when they come and watch … I just hope everyone’s smiling,” said Bhupathi. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ADELENE WONG

International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) fast facts

Event: Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League

Venue: Singapore Indoor Stadium

Date: Dec 2-4 (Session 1: 4pm-7pm, Session 2: 7.30pm-10.30pm)

Schedule: Dec 2 (UAE Royals vs Micromax Indian Aces. DBS Singapore Slammers vs Manila Mavericks ), Dec 3 (Manila Mavericks vs UAE Royals, DBS Singapore Slammers vs Micromax Indian Aces), Dec 4 (Micromax Indian Aces vs Manila Mavericks, DBS Singapore Slammers vs UAE Royals)

Teams: DBS Singapore Slammers (Serena Williams, Andre Agassi, Tomas Berdych, Patrick Rafter, Nick Kyrgios, Lleyton Hewitt, Daniela Hantuchova, Bruno Soares), Manila Mavericks (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Carlos Moya, Daniel Nestor, Kirsten Flipkens, Treat Huey), Micromax Indian Aces (Gael Monfils, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna, Fabrice Santoro), UAE Royals (Caroline Wozniacki, Marin Cilic, Eugenie Bouchard, Goran Ivanisevic, Malek Jaziri, Nenad Zimonjic)

Prize purse: S$1.3 million

Format: Every match will be played over five sets (men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, legend’s singles)

Visit: http://www.iptlworld.com for more information.