For the first time in the history of professional tennis we finally got a full off-season that committed to full-time professional tennis. There were tournaments in South America last year dedicated solely to the appearance of Roger Federer, but in the International Premier Tennis League we saw competitive tennis in the dark times of the off-season for the first time that I can remember in the Open Era.
There has been many a debate as to whether such a shake up in the off-season should take place, but thanks to the ideologies of Mahesh Bhupathi, who’s been the driving force behind the newly devised league, there are plenty of reasons why this project, at first difficult for loyal tennis fans to get their head around, was a success.
The changes incorporated into the IPTL included firstly the decision to not have any “lets.” Therefore if a player’s serve was affected by clipping the net and it were to land in, it would still mean that the receiver had to play the ball and therefore start the rally as normal. Other reformations highlighted in the IPTL included the addition of a “power point” which effectively meant that if a player were close to a critical moment of a tennis game, for example at 30-40, the individual in question could use a “power point”, worth two points, effectively receiving a break point. That was one positive to what the IPTL were trying to do by following their motto of ‘Break the Code’
Extensive changes also impacted the tie-break system of a normal real tennis match, as if both players were locked at 5-5 in the set then they would consequently go into a five minute shoot out, where the player who performed better after the five minute time limit would be the winner of the set 6-5. It’s confusing at first, but it encouraged marathon sets between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, which reflected the highest order of drama in which I hadn’t seen on the main tour all year, particularly in the set of Berdych v Djokovic, where literally a point decided the whole tie. It was dramatic tennis at its absolute best and one of my highlights from the tennis calendar this year.
The whole format included a women’s and men’s singles set; a legends’ singles set; mixed doubles set and a men’s doubles set with the team accumulating the most games incurred at the end of the five sets being the winner, so in effect, every game counts in the IPTL. A similar process can be seen on the Mylan World Team Tennis, but this was the most hotly constructed organization I’ve seen in this kind of format.
The International Premier Tennis League brought everything and more than I expected and there were a number of successes and unique selling points which separated its identity from the main tours. Most importantly, it managed to establish tennis as a brand in the regions where tennis is very much derelict. Travelling to places like Manila in the Philippines aided tennis in putting the sport on the map, filling out the stadium for three successive days, where the average dedicated tennis fan really responded to the once in a lifetime opportunity of seeing their favourite tennis players in the flesh.
Not only were the dreams of tennis fans fulfilled in a matter of days in Manila, Delhi, Dubai and Singapore, but the dreams of local tennis players who were selected to represent the different franchises also talked about how one of the highlights of their careers was playing a home tie in India with the Swiss Man Roger Federer. Both Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna of the Indian Aces in separate interviews expressed their joy at playing doubles alongside Roger, whilst being in their home country. It was ecstasy to watch as these weren’t feelings these players would necessarily feel on a day-to-day basis on the real tour, which shows Mahesh Bhupathi had succeeded in his quest to give IPTL it’s own identification when under forensic scrutiny of the highest order.
The IPTL brought players together that you would never witness at grand slams or any combined events; the only real taste of unlikely partnerships we get to see takes place in the Hopman Cup, which in effect is an exhibition. British Number 1 Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova both played in a mixed doubles set in Manila, and we saw partnerships like Lleyton Hewitt and Serena Williams as well, which brings me back to the quote from years ago, where Serena spoke negatively of Hewitt, saying he was one of the worst partners she’d played with. This brought it’s own interest coming into the set of mixed doubles.
Lastly, the Legends’ Singles meant that the players of yesterday like Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Goran Ivanisevic and Fabrice Santoro all played regularly in very competitive tennis; maybe in many respects it was too competitive for the likes of Sampras, who got substituted in the middle of his match. The Legends got a taste of what they experienced previously on the tour and it was taken very seriously by a lot of the players. The IPTL has found a niche in the market, which successfully identifies what a tennis fan needs during the off season. A great organization which everyone involved will look to expand into other ventures of the world in 2015.
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