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MANILA, Philippines – A major tennis event nearly as huge as a Grand Slam tournament or a World Group Davis Cup final.
This is the treat in store for Filipino sports fans should the opening leg of the International Premier Tennis League push through in November, said Philippine Tennis Association vice president Randy Villanueva on Monday, May 12.
“An event like this is the close you can get to a tennis Grand Slam or a World Group Davis Cup final,” noted Villanueva of the competition featuring past and present tennis stars, among them top-ranked netters Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Serena Williams.
“This is a big event not only for Philippine tennis but for the entire country.”
Villanueva said that former Indian Davis Cup mainstay Mupesh Bhupati, his former juniors doubles partner and the league’s organizer, was in town recently and talked to him about staging the team event.
Based on the drafting held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates last March, he said the Philippines would acquire the franchise of the team known as the Manila Mavericks, bannered by Murray, a US Open, Wimbledon and Olympic champion, and currently ranked No. 8 in the Association of Tennis Professionals ratings.
Joining Murray in the Mavericks are back-to-back Australian Open women’s singles champ Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 1998 French Open men’s singles winner Carlos Moya of Spain, Frenchman Jo Wilfred-Tsonga, a 2008 French Open finalist, and Serbian veteran Daniel Nestor.
Villanueva bared that several big local firms, including those managed by businessman Manny V. Pangilinan, were interested in either paying for or pooling their resources for the $8-million (roughly P360 million) franchise fee needed in owning a team.
The franchise was earlier offered to a group of businessmen in Thailand, but the recent unrest in Bangkok prompted Bhupati to look for a new franchise holder “and Manila became an attraction option,” he said.
Mavericks will be facing powerhouse squads such as the Singapore Lions composed of Serena Williams, currently the No. 1 women’s player in the world, former Australian ace Lleyton Hewitt, colorful American netter Andre Agassi, Thomas Berdych, Daniela Hantuchova and Patrick Rafter, the PHILTA official said.
Another team competing in the star-studded netfest are the Mumbai Ace made up of Spanish No. 1 Rafael Nadal, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza and American Pete Sampras.
Rounding out the list of squads are the Dubai Expos led by Serbian Novak Djokovic, currently ranked No. 2 behind Nadal, Polish Caroline Wozniacki, who reached the 2009 US Open women’s singles finals, and former Swiss tennis great and heartthrob Martina Hingis.
The tournament format will have teams facing each other in a race-to-6 series featuring single, doubles matches for men and women and mixed doubles play, Villanueva said.
Villanueva said that either the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City or the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City are being eyed as the venues for the International Premier Tennis League’s kick-off leg tentatively scheduled from Nov. 28-30.
“There is a detachable carpet, whose surface is similar to a hardcourt, than can be rolled over in both arenas and can be removed once the event is over,” he said. – Rappler.com
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