Melbourne: Five teams, including Mumbai, will compete in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) with Australian ace Lleyton Hewitt also confirming his participation in the inaugural edition.
The matches of the league, brainchild of Indian tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi, will be played in Bangkok, Singapore, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpur and in a middle east city, the name of which has not been announced yet.
Leading players in world tennis, including Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams along with some legendary former players are expected to feature in the first season, scheduled between November 28 and December 20 with teams playing each other home and away.
The players auction has been scheduled for March 2 in the United Arab Emirates.
"We are happy to announce today, the ownership of teams. We have been working relentlessly to formulate and deliver a concept that not only meets global expectations of excellence, but also provides quality tennis coupled with entertainment for fans. With this, we confirmed team owners in five of Asia's biggest markets," Bhupathi, co-founder of the IPTL, said at a press conference.
Bhupathi added that each team will have a salary cap of USD 10 million. He also said that name of the team owners will be announced soon. Each team will have a minimum of six and maximum of 10 players.
Speaking about the initiative, Hewitt said, "I have heard of the many ideas being added to the League and I am excited to have confirmed my participation. I wait to see whose team I am on, I do not have any preferences as I know there are a lot of fans waiting to see world class tennis in all cities."
"This is something that tennis needs. Back in my time, we would have loved to have a series of tournaments in Asia, where the demand for world class tennis as an entertainment concept merges with the needs and wishes of millions of fans." says Boris Becker, co-founder of the IPTL.
International TV rights agency MP and Silva, which holds part of the television rights for 2014 FIFA World Cup, the English Premier League and French Open amongst other globally prominent sporting events, have acquired the rights to the IPTL.
They will be distributing the images of the league on a world wide platform according to Morgan Menahem CEO of the IPTL.
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