Big Tennis Draft On Sunday

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 27th February 2014

Big Tennis Draft On Sunday

epa04101587 Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain during their second round match for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis ATP Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 26 February 2014. EPA/ALI HAIDER |

Sunday will see the draft for the International Tennis Premier League in Dubai and opinions are clearly split on the validity of the new tennis concept amongst leading players. Tomas Berdych, who maintains he needs to cut back on his schedule, primarily in Davis Cup, insists he is fully committed. However Kei Nishikori, the foremost and most marketable male Asian player, has opted not to take part.

The IPTL is the brainchild of former top doubles player Mahesh Bhupathi who is believed to have already signed up a number of the world’s top players. Rumors abound that Rafael Nadal is to receive $US1 million for each appearance in the league that is set to run from November 28 to December 20.

However as yet there has been no definitive list of which players will be ‘for sale’ in Sunday’s auction. Roger Federer has long maintained he will not have anything to do with the ITPL format that will include teams from five Asian cities – Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur.

Clearly there are no Japanese cities currently listed on the ITPL but Nishikori remains the highest ranked Asian player as world no.20 after slipping down five places this week. But Olivier van Lindonk, Nishikori’s manager with IMG, reported: “A lot of people have been asking the question so we can categorically say Kei will not be playing the ITPL.

“He just takes the view it is not the right move for him at this time in his career. He values the off-season as an opportunity to get physically tougher and therefore more durable and he does not want to compromise that valuable time. Plus he is quite conservative in his way of looking at new ventures and annually we arrange a big exhibition match for him in Japan. Last year it was against John McEnroe and the year before Lleyton Hewitt.

Novak Djokovic has joined the queue for a place in the new December Asian tennis series, with the Serb keen to take a place on court when the IPTL gets started in late autumn. Like Tomas Berdych and Rafael Nadal, the ATP No. 2 believes his game can benefit from the new competition which is currently trying to take flight.

“I think it’s a fantastic concept if it happens, obviously, I hope and I believe it will, “said Djokovic, top seed this week in Dubai. “Most of the players have been informed about it for, you know, a long period of time. We’ve been discussing about eventual participation in the event, and it’s a very positive thing for the sport.”

“It’s going to promote tennis in the Asian part of the world. That is a huge market, it’s a fun concept, “said four-time Dubai winner Djokovic. “It lets the players enjoy in the court and off the court together.

“Generally it needs to happen. It’s not that easy to realize, because it’s a huge program and project, and hopefully does, and if it does, I’m going to try to be part of it.”

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Davis Cup, Dubai, IMG, International Tennis Premier League, John Mcenroe, Kei Nishikori, Lleyton Hewitt, Mahesh Bhupathi, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis, Tomas Berdych