Video by INQUIRER.net’s Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines – A new brand of tennis is coming to the Philippines, it’s team-based and would be played indoors.
Bringing the best of tennis lore to the country, the International Premier Tennis League would pit the world’s best and the yesteryears’ legends in a team-based format.
Photo by RYAN LEAGOGO
Doing away with the traditional matches, the IPTL promises a faster and “more exciting” scene of hitting a green ball across an indoor field.
“This is something brand new in tennis,” Morgan Menahem, IPTL Chief Executive Officer, said Thursday afternoon at the Edsa Shangri-La hotel. “This is great for television; we are going into the right direction with this format.”
Together with Menahem during the press launch are Eric Gottschalk, IPTL Chief Operating Officer, Filipino American star Treat Huey, defending US Open Champion Marin Cilic, legends Fabrice Santoro, John-Laffnie de Jager.
Manila would be the starting point of the four-leg tournament with names such as Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Pete Sampras, Ana Ivanovic, Cilic, Santoro and de Jager expected to duel it out in the fast paced format.
“Hopefully we’ll see great events of tennis,” Cilic said. “I see this format to live long for many years.”
After the first leg in Manila, the tournament would continue in Singapore, India and the United Arab Emirates which would host the last leg from December 11 to 13.
Headlining Huey’s team, Manila Mavericks, are Murray, Tsonga and Sharapova.
The Mall of Asia Arena would be the venue of the IPTL with gates opening at 3 p.m. on Friday until Sunday.