International Premier Tennis League - 2014

[Federberg]

^yup. He was a stone cold killer. He wasn't pressuring guys into mistakes, he was just taking it away from them. That's what I like to see. That's a Nadal I could get on board with

 

[Billie]

Go falcons

Except for marketing and financial gain to the players, I don't see any other positives for this league. Oh well, I can't do anything about it.:snigger

 

[NADAL2005RG]

^ Thank god/Nadal you can't do anything about it.
IPTL has got the most entertaining players on the planet, and it brings them to Asia/Middle East.
Is there anything more important than bringing tennis to the world? :angel:
IPTL is doing what the Grand Slams cannot do.

 

[Front242]

That's true, you're not likely to see Sampras play in the AO '15.

 

[Billie]

That's true, you're not likely to see Sampras play in the AO '15.

And if Sampras comes out of this with an achy back, it will not bother him to take his kids to school afterwards.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

This is a big circus. The retired players are not really going to play. They are there
to sign autographs. That's all.

Each match is a best of 5 sets affair, a set of men's singles, a set of women's singles, a set of
men's doubles, a set of mixed doubles and finally a set of legends singles. So, the legends get to play only if the match is not already won and goes to the fifth set.

I also read that in each set, they plan to play tie breaker once the score reaches 5-5
instead of the traditional 6-6. Also, they plan to use "no ad" scoring.

Finally, to top it all, they plan to play 6 matches in each country (each team plays
every other team in each country) and then stop it abruptly. There is not notion of
two teams advancing to finals and the finals is non-existent. So, when the round
robin ends it is completely possible that no one knows who won the circus.

To put it in a nutshell, there is no real competition here by any stretch of imagination.

 

[Moxie]

^ This can't surprise you. When we saw that the old folks were in, we knew it was a multi-city exhibition.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

Star-studded leagues like this, with absolute all-time legends, draws huge attention to tennis, in corners of the globe which aren't tennis-playing by nature. A colossal gain for international tennis.
The best promotional idea in tennis history :clap

 

[GameSetAndMath]

^ This can't surprise you. When we saw that the old folks were in, we knew it was a multi-city exhibition.

This is not a surprise; but, the IPL (International Premier League that plays Cricket) after
which Mahesh allegedly modelled this event is a serious competitive event.

 

[Moxie]

^ This can't surprise you. When we saw that the old folks were in, we knew it was a multi-city exhibition.

This is not a surprise; but, the IPL (International Premier League that plays Cricket) after
which Mahesh allegedly modelled this event is a serious competitive event.

It sounds like while he may have named his event he cricket one, he didn't actually "model" his after it, because it sounds far from a serious competitive event.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

I've never taken the IPL seriously (as I've never taken the format of T20 cricket seriously).
I only take Test cricket seriously (because 5-day cricket is the truest test of greatness), and sometimes I watch One-Day cricket.

However, the IPL (and the format that is T20 cricket) overall draws bigger crowds than Test cricket/One-Day cricket because people who are new to cricket generally prefer the shortest version.
This is how you get the mainstream involved in a time-consuming sport (unfortunately any sport which take more than an hour is too long for some people), and mainstream bring the biggest crowds - and you sweeten the deal by including high profile players that even the non-tennis-fan population have heard of.

This is what the IPTL may do for non-tennis fans.
You get to see a great player beat another great player within a suspenseful hour.
And if you want to see more you can watch another great match-up, this time between a couple of legends that you've heard of (because even many non-tennis fans have heard of Agassi and Sampras).

 

[Front242]

We get to watch a great player beat a great player in a staged match with no physical exertion whatsoever? Can't wait.

 

[NADAL2005RG]

I know, once you've seen the grand slams events, there is nothing that can top that.
I know I'll never see anything better in all of sport than some of the grand slam finals/semis I've seen.
But because a lot of the mainstream don't watch tennis of any kind, they'll be impressed by watching an Agassi versus Sampras duel of any kind, or a Nadal versus Djokovic duel of any kind, and they'll be able to see it without investing more than an hour of their day. That's the key.
Because most of the world don't watch grand slam tennis. We need to tap into that world.
Plus the tennis fans who live in these IPTL countries will get a chance to see their heroes live and in person for the first time. And they'll get to see them versus their main rivals.

 

[Moxie]

I know, once you've seen the grand slams events, there is nothing that can top that.
I know I'll never see anything better in all of sport than some of the grand slam finals/semis I've seen.
But because a lot of the mainstream don't watch tennis of any kind, they'll be impressed by watching an Agassi versus Sampras duel of any kind, or a Nadal versus Djokovic duel of any kind, and they'll be able to see it without investing more than an hour of their day. That's the key.
Because most of the world don't watch grand slam tennis. We need to tap into that world.
Plus the tennis fans who live in these IPTL countries will get a chance to see their heroes live and in person for the first time. And they'll get to see them versus their main rivals.

They get to see these stars and legends, but it's a bit like seeing them in a zoo. Do your best to display all of your skills, even though nothing is actually at stake. It's like the Natural History Museum diorama of tennis.

 

[tented]

They get to see these stars and legends, but it's a bit like seeing them in a zoo. Do your best to display all of your skills, even though nothing is actually at stake. It's like the Natural History Museum Diorama of Tennis.

:clap

If they're still looking for a slogan, we have the winner.

 

[JesuslookslikeBorg]

so if pistol pete was in the natural science museum he'd prob be that massive brontosaurus. :huh: wow.

maybe Agassi could be a herbivore tyrannosaurus rex ?. ..with friendly non violent teeth ?. i like it, gimme some tickets.

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

Just read this twitter from Ben Rothenberg.

Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the IPTL season due to 'health reasons'.Expect attrition to be high in that league given its timing.

 

[Kieran]

Just read this twitter from Ben Rothenberg.

Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the IPTL season due to 'health reasons'.Expect attrition to be high in that league given its timing.

:clap :clap :clap

Best news I've heard from Rafa in years. Let's hope Rothenberg is a PR man, a real one, one who's on the inside giving it straight! :snigger

 

[MargaretMcAleer]

From Mahesh Bhupathi on twitter an hour ago

Announcing team in Delhi,today lost Rafa to health reasons,stay tuned #ipl@iptl.

 

[Kieran]

From Mahesh Bhupathi on twitter an hour ago

Announcing team in Delhi,today lost Rafa to health reasons,stay tuned #ipl@iptl.

The hits keep coming! :celeb: :smooch