Consortium to own Manila tennis franchise?

MANILA, Philippines - A consortium of four partners with equal shares is being formed to own the Manila franchise of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) which kicks off on Nov. 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

IPTL founder Mahesh Bhupathi, who has won four doubles and eight mixed doubles Grand Slam championships since turning pro in 1995, said an announcement will be made July 24 on the final composition of the syndicate. He was in town for two days last week to finalize negotiations. It was his fourth trip to Manila in the last six weeks.

Bhupathi, 40, planned to compete at Wimbledon this year but got busy arranging for the IPTL launch. Bangkok’s withdrawal from the league due to political unrest in Thailand opened the door for Manila to join Singapore, India and the United Arab Emirates as the league’s founding franchises. Bhupathi, who played for India at the 2004 and 2012 Olympics, had to work overtime in making sure of Manila’s participation at the expense of a Wimbledon appearance.

Bangkok would’ve been the first stop in the four-leg tour. Manila emerged as the perfect alternative as the initial host city of the league that will also stage matches in Singapore, Mumbai and Dubai.

Bhupathi said to join the league, a franchise owner will pay a fee of $12 Million which may be remitted in equal installments of $1.2 Million over 10 years. Every season, the winning team earns $1 Million out of a total prize money budget of $29.7 Million. Manila, whose team is tentatively called the Mavericks, will be up against the Singapore Lions, Indian Aces and the Emirates’ Falcons from Nov. 28 to Dec. 13.

The four teams will converge in each city to play on three match days over a four-day period. A match is composed of a set of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and if necessary to break a 2-2 deadlock, a legends’ singles. Each set is a first-to-six blitz with a tiebreak at 5-5 settled in a no-ad sudden death. The winner is determined by most games, not sets, won. A match isn’t expected to last more than three hours. Bhupathi described the IPTL format as time-sensitive and action-packed.

“We are bringing world-class tennis competition coupled with NBA style entertainment to the region,” said Bhupathi. “The atmosphere will be just like in an NBA arena with a DJ and live entertainment. This is a great opportunity for fans to see some of the world’s greatest tennis players in action without sitting through long matches.”

Bhupathi said a draft was held to distribute players to the four franchises. Each team has at least six players, including a legend and a female, but no more than 10. Assigned to Manila are Andy Murray of the UK, Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France, Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium, Daniel Nestor of Canada by way of Serbia, legend Carlos Moya of Spain and Fil-Am playing coach Treat Huey.

Singapore, owned by cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar, Intex Group chairman Kishan Gehlot, Awashya Group chairman Shashi Shetty and Channel 2 Dubai chairman Ajay Sethi, is bannered by legend Andre Agassi of the US, Lleyton Hewitt, Nick Kyrgios and Patrick Rafter of Australia, Serena Williams of the US, Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, Bruno Soares of Brazil and Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

Mumbai is owned by Micromax and features No. 1 draft pick Rafael Nadal of Spain, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza of India, Gael Monfils and Fabrice Santoro of France, legend Pete Sampras of the US and Ana Ivanovic of Serbia. Dubai’s principal owner is Musafir.com CEO Sachin Gadoya with Serbia’s Novak Djokovic its lead player. Other Dubai players are Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, Malek Jaziri of Tunisia, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Richard Gasquet of France and Martina Hingis of Switzerland.

Bhupathi said the league is 2 1/2 years in the making. It is similar to World Team Tennis which was formed in 1973 and now has seven franchises in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, Austin, San Diego, Springfield and Texas. World Team Tennis is played during the summer only in the US while the IPTL will be played across Asia during the winter. The plan is to expand the IPTL from four to eight cities.

“The timing for the IPTL is just right because it comes after the US Open and before the Australian Open when players are available,” said Philippine Tennis Association vice president Randy Villanueva who teamed with Bhupathi in a junior tournament in Manila in 1992. “I know Mahesh has sacrificed a lot to put the IPTL together. I think it’s a great concept and a treat for the fans. I expect a full house at the Araneta on every play day.” Last year, Bhupathi submitted his plan to organize the IPTL before the Asian Tennis Federation Board, where Villanueva is treasurer, during a Bangkok meeting. Villanueva said the reaction to Bhupathi’s plan was positive as he was convinced of the IPTL’s viability.

IPTL players and owners recently converged in a meeting at Wimbledon. Manila franchise promoter Francis Lumen attended. Murray, who will lead Manila, said, “it’s good to play tennis in parts of the world that don’t have a huge tennis heritage but have a big fan base … being able to grow the sport globally is important to me.”