The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL, officially the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League Presented by Qatar Airways pursuant to sponsorshipagreements with The Coca-Cola Company and Qatar Airways) was an annual team tennisleague that took place in various cities in Asia. Founded in 2013, the elite level exhibition tennis tournament took place for the first time in November 2014. Due to financial issues the tournament was not held in 2017.[1]
Original logo of the International Premier Tennis League
Mahesh Bhupathi announced the founding of the International Premier Tennis League on 25 May 2013, in Paris. The initial plan was to start the league with six charter franchises in Asia with the inaugural season commencing in November 2014. Bhupathi said the league would be modeled after the Indian Premier League, a cricket league in India. Justin Gimelstob said that the league would be star-driven as World Team Tennis was in the 1970s.[2]
On 21 January 2014, IPTL announced the locations of the six charter franchises for the league's inaugural season. Five franchises would play their home matches in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Singapore. A sixth franchise would play its home matches in an undisclosed city in the Middle East.[3] There was confusion surrounding the announcement. Some media outlets reported that there would be five franchises, not six as had been previously announced, and did not include the Hong Kong franchise among the five.[4] Later news reports in February 2014, indicated that there would be five franchises including one based in Hong Kong but not one in the Middle East.[5][6]
IPTL[7] conducted its inaugural player draft on 2 March 2014.[8] Right up until the day before the draft, the media remained under the impression that the Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur franchises would participate in the league and that the Middle East franchise was doubtful.[9] However, only four teams participated in the draft: Bangkok, Mumbai, Singapore and Middle East now referred to as the Dubai franchise. No mention was made by IPTL of the Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur franchises which had abruptly disappeared.[8]
By May 2014, the Dubai franchise was being referred to as the UAE Falcons, the Mumbai franchise had been named the Indian Aces, and the Singapore franchise was being referred to as the Singapore Lions.[10]
On 19 June 2014, an IPTL press release[12] revealed the owners of the four franchises to the general public. The owner of the Indian franchise, Micromax Informatics Ltd. proved to be the reason the team was no longer called the Mumbai franchise, because it preferred to have the team play its home matches in New Delhi. A group called PVP Ventures led by entrepreneurPrasad V Potluri and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar had been the original franchise owners with a plan to play home matches in Mumbai.[13] While league managing director Bhupathi said PVP Ventures had been replaced by Micromax, because PVP missed a payment deadline, PVP said it had withdrawn from the league due to lack of clarity over how IPTL's business model was progressing and disagreements over player contracts. PVP did not want the team to be solely responsible for payment of player salaries and favored the league being obligated as well.[14]
The IPTL was not held in 2017 after 3 seasons of the tennis league due to financial issues. The number of legs was reduced to three from the previous five for the 2016 season and the league was not able to secure players, Roger Federer and Serena Williams. It was planned that the following season of the IPTL would be hosted in a single country.[1]
In 2018, Broadcast Sports News accused founder Mahesh Bhupathi of non-payment of dues to the IPTL's stakeholders. Bhupathi confirmed the non-payment but added that the Legendari group which is behind the Japan Warriors team which joined the IPTL in 2016 was largely responsible for the leagues' financial crisis alleging the group of committing fraud.[16]
All IPTL matches conform to the rules of tennis and code of conduct laid down by the International Tennis Federation. A match comprises five sets each of a different category as follows:
Men's singles
Women's singles
Men's doubles
Mixed doubles
Past champions' singles
The order of play is decided by the coach of the home team. If two teams are playing at a neutral site, then a coin toss determines which coach chooses the order of play. The first serve in the first set is determined by a coin toss. The team that served last in the last game or tiebreaker of the previous set will receive during the next set.
Each team can call a power point once in each set when receiving serve, and the next point played will count double. Effectively, a player trailing 15–0 can directly get to 15–30 by winning the power point.
Games are played to four points using no-ad scoring. Each game won by a player or doubles team adds one point to the team's score in the match. The team with the most points at the end of the five sets wins the match. Each set is won when a team is the first to reach six games won. If the score is five-games-all, a timed five-minute shoot-out will be played. The player or doubles team leading at the end of five minutes wins the set.
If the team that wins the fifth set is leading the match, the match is over. If the score is tied after one team has won the fifth set, a timed seven-minute men's singles super shoot-out is played. The result counts as a game point won. If the team that wins the fifth set is trailing in the match, the match will go to sudden-death overtime effectively extending the fifth set. If the leading team wins one game in overtime, it wins the match tie. If the trailing team wins enough games in overtime to tie the match score without losing a game, a timed seven-minute men's singles super shoot-out is played to decide the winner of the match tie. A coin toss decides who serves first in super shoot-outs.
During IPTL matches, a shot clock keeps track of the countdown between points and during the change overs. There will be a maximum of 20 seconds between each game point and a maximum of three minutes between each set.
Each team can call for a coach's time out once during each set. Each time out is limited to a maximum duration of 60 seconds.
Each team can make one player substitution per set except a team with the overall match lead in the final set. If a player on a team with the overall match lead gets injured during the fifth set, he or she cannot be replaced. The team trailing in the match is credited with enough games won to tie the overall match score and send it to a super shoot-out. Players removed from a set for a substitute may play in later sets in the match.
The team that wins a match tie has four points added to its total in the team standings. If the losing team accumulates at least 20 game points, it receives two points in the team standings. If the losing team accumulates at least 10 but less than 20 game points, it receives one point in the team standings. Losing teams that earn less than 10 game points do not receive any points in the team standings.
The team with the most points throughout the season is declared the IPTL champion. In the event that two or more teams share the highest points on the final tally, the criteria to decide the champion are
Head-to-head results
Number of games won
Number of games lost
Biggest games margin in any single match win
Coin toss
The IPTL champions will receive the IPTL Challenge Trophy along with a grand prize of US$1,000,000.[17]
On 30 November, the Aces defeated the UAE Royals in Pasay, 28–20, in a matchup of two previously unbeaten teams to move into first place in the standings at the end of the league's Philippines wing.[20]
The Indian Aces were declared the champions of the inaugural season on the final day with overall 2 points lead over the runners-up UAE Royals.[21]
For the 2016 season, only 4 teams from the previous 5 participated. The UAE Royals, one of the participating teams, did not play any games in their country.[22]
Television coverage
On 22 August 2014, IPTL announced it had reached an agreement for the Middle East and North Africa television broadcasting rights with Abu Dhabi Media.[23] On 16 October 2014, IPTL announced that STAR Sports would broadcast the league's matches live in both standard definition and high definition in India during its inaugural 2014 season. The league's matches will also be available live on STAR Sports's website.[24] On 4 November 2014, Integrated Sports Media announced it had reached a deal with IPTL to televise every league match of the 2014 season on a pay-per-view basis in the United States.[25] On 7 November 2014, IPTL announced it had reached agreements on television broadcast contracts with ABS-CBN in the Philippines and SingTel in Singapore. The league also said there would be television coverage of its matches in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Serbia, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Brazil. In total, television coverage of IPTL matches will be available in more than 125 countries worldwide and reach over 300 million households.[26] Starting in the 2015 season, ESPN will broadcast the IPTL to the Spanish-speaking Latin American and English-speaking Caribbean countries. On November 9, 2015, IPTL went into one-year broadcast agreement with Philippine sports broadcaster Sports5 for the online and television airing of the games.[27]
Sponsorship
The IPTL announced it has secured sponsorship from at least two companies in November 2014; The Coca-Cola Company as the league's title sponsor.[28] and Qatar Airways as the league's presenting sponsor.[29]
Sania Mirza is an Indian former professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in 2013, she was ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as the No. 1 Indian in singles. Throughout her career, Mirza has established herself as one of the most known, highest-paid, and influential athletes in India.
Mahesh Shrinivas Bhupathi is an Indian former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. In 1997, he became the first Indian to win a major tournament. With his win at the 2006 Australian Open mixed doubles, he joined the elite group of eight tennis players who have achieved a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles. He is also the founder of International Premier Tennis League. In December 2016, Bhupathi was appointed as India's next non-playing Davis Cup captain and took over the reins from Anand Amritraj in February 2017.
The 2006–07 PBA season was the 32nd season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The season started September 28 in Guam and began its formal opening on October 1 at the Araneta Coliseum, and ended on July 20. The league started the season with the All-Filipino Conference, now known as the PBA Philippine Cup while the PBA Fiesta Conference, an import laced tournament, ended the season.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian professional cricket franchise based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The team competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and was one of the eight franchises incorporated when the league was established in 2008. The team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium and is owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket.
Deccan Chargers is a defunct IPL franchise which was based in the city of Hyderabad. The franchise was one of the eight inaugural members of the IPL in 2008 and winner of 2009. It was owned by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd. After finishing at the bottom of the points table in the first season, they won the second season held in South Africa in 2009 under the captaincy of former Australian wicket-keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist. Gilchrist was the captain of the team for the first three seasons of the IPL with Rohit Sharma as his deputy. From the fourth season, Kumar Sangakkara led the team and Cameron White played as his deputy. The team was coached by former Australian cricketer Darren Lehmann.
Mumbai Indians are a professional franchise cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Founded in 2008, the team is owned by India's biggest conglomerate, Reliance Industries, through its 100% subsidiary Indiawin Sports. Since its establishment, the team has played home matches at the 33,108-capacity Wankhede Stadium.
Premier Badminton League, aka PBL, is a team badminton league operating in India. Sportz & Live Private Limited has the rights to operate and execute the league.
Alyssa Caymo Valdez is a Filipino volleyball player who currently plays for the Creamline Cool Smashers. She was a member of the collegiate varsity women's volleyball team of Ateneo de Manila University in both indoor and beach volleyball. She was most outstanding as an indoor volleyball player where she brought multiple championship titles and a lot of honor for the university. She is a current member of Philippines national team. Her global recognition paved the way for her to play in other countries like Thailand for 3BB Nakornnont and Taiwan for Attack Line Volleyball Club.
Bengaluru Raptors is a professional badminton franchise representing Bengaluru in the Premier Badminton League (PBL). The team was one of the six founding members of the Premier Badminton League in 2013.
The Singapore Slammers were a tennis team based in the city state of Singapore that competed in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). It is one of the four charter franchises which took part in the IPTL's inaugural 2014 season.
The Philippine Mavericks, initially known as the Manila Mavericks, were a tennis team based in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines that competed in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). It is one of four charter franchises participating in the IPTL's inaugural 2014 season. It last competed in the 2015 season of the IPTL.
The UAE Royals is a tennis team based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates that competed in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). It is one of four charter franchises that participated in the IPTL's inaugural 2014 season where it finished as runners-up. The team started its 2015 season with marquee signings in Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic.
The Indian Aces were a tennis team based in New Delhi, India that competed in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). It is one of the four charter franchises which had participated in the IPTL's inaugural 2014 season and are champions of the first edition.
The 2014 International Premier Tennis League season is the inaugural season of the professional team tennis league contested by four teams in Asia.
The 2014 Singapore Slammers season is the inaugural season of the franchise playing in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
The 2014 Indian Aces season is the inaugural season of the franchise playing in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
The 2014 Manila Mavericks season is the inaugural season of the franchise playing in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
The 2014 UAE Royals season is the inaugural season of the franchise playing in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
The 2015 International Premier Tennis League season is the second season of the professional team tennis league contested by five teams in Asia.
The 2016 International Premier Tennis League season was the third and final season of the professional team tennis league contested by four teams in Asia.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
India
Japan
Philippines 
Singapore 
United Arab Emirates 
