TENNIS – Mahesh Bhupathi’s International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) is taking shape. The AEGON Championships are looking for a new director. Who is skipping Indian Wells, Shanghai Dubai and Queen’s win awards and Bubka Jr.’s comeback.
Bhupathi’s IPTL
Some of the biggest names in today’s (and yesterday’s) tennis have signed up to play for Mahesh Bhupathi’s International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), a team competition set to debut on 28th November 2014 and last for 16 days, right in the middle of the tennis offseason.
The creation of this tournament has caused some controversies in the tennis world, given that many tennis players have spent the last years complaining about the length and arduousness of the regular tennis season. World No.1 Rafael Nadal has been one of the most vocal critics, claiming that “…the bad thing about the calendar is how it is made and obligates you to play tournaments all year”.
The project, however, has attracted major interest from many players and would appear to be a huge success (I guess money cures fatigues!). More than 70 players, current and retired, signed for an American style draft that took place yesterday in Dubai.
The competition format is that of matches played between 4 city-based teams (Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore and Bangkok), home and away. Each match will consist of five separate sets disputed in men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and legend’s doubles. There will be no-ad scoring, and a tiebreak will be played on the score of 5-5.
Each team is allowed to sign a maximum of 10 players, with team owners still able to add players even after yesterday’s draft.
Team Rosters so far:
Mumbai: Rafael Nadal, Gael Monfils, Pete Sampras, Rohan Bopanna, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza, Fabrice Santoro
Dubai: Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Goran Ivanisevic, Janko Tipsarevic, Nenad Zimonjic, Malek Jaziri, Martina Hingis
Singapore: Tomas Berdych, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Serena Williams, Bruno Soares, Pat Rafter, Daniela Hantuchova, Nick Kyrgios
Bangkok: Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Victoria Azarenka, Daniel Nestor, Carlos Moya, Kirsten Flipkens
Of the 28 players drafted so far, 21 are Grand Slam champions and 14 are present or past No.1s.
AEGON Championships looking for director
Ross Hutchins, Andy Murray’s great friend, is in the running to become the new AEGON Championships (aka Queen’s) tournament Director, according to the PA.
The 29 year old doubles player was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in December 2012 and underwent more than six months of chemotherapy before revealing he was in remission in July 2013. He then made his competitive comeback in January 2014 and lost his first two matches partnering fellow Brit Colin Fleming before finally recording his first win in the first round of the 2014 Australian Open.
The name of the new director is set to be announced within the next two weeks.
Who’s missing Indian Wells?
The 2014 BNP Paribas Open (aka Indian Wells) starts today with the women’s qualifying draw. It’s a mandatory tournament for both men and women, so all players eligible are forced to play and can opt out only due to injury.
Two men’s seeds have withdrawn before the start of the tournament: World No.4 David Ferrer pulled out due to an adductor injury while 28th seeded Benoit Paire is out with a knee injury. Bernard Tomic, Janko Tipsarevic and Filippo Volandri are among the non-seeded players sitting out the tournament due to injury.
Of the 32 women’s seeds, four are missing from the tournament: Maria Kirilenko and Jamie Hampton are out due to injury, while Serena and Venus Williams are continuing their 13 year long boycott of the tournament. British No.1 Laura Robson, who hasn’t played since her first-round loss to Kirsten Flipkens at the Australian Open, is also out due to her ongoing wrist problem.
Bubka Jr comeback
Sergei Bubka Jr, son of world-famous pole-vaulter Sergei Bubka, made his return to the ATP major tour 15 months after suffering a near-fatal incident in Paris, when he fell from a third-story apartment trying to exit a bedroom he was blocked in.
Bubka lost his first round qualifying match in the Dubai 500 tournament but it was still a great achievement for someone who spent more than six months on crutches and is lucky to be walking, let alone playing competitive tennis.
The Ukrainian has also played three other qualifying matches in 2014, winning one in the Bergamo Challenger three weeks ago.
Shanghai, Dubai and Queen’s win 2013 ATP Awards
The Shanghai Rolex Masters, the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the AEGON Championships have all been announced as the Tournaments of the Year 2013 in their respective categories (ATP World Tour Masters 1000, ATP 500 and ATP 250).
It was the fifth straight win for the Shanghai tournament since its first edition at this level in 2009. The Dubai Championships collected the trophy for the 10th time in the last 11 years, while the AEGON Championships ended the longest reign in the ATP Awards (11 straight wins for Bastad at ATP 250 level) winning the honour for the first time.
