Bhupathi's IPL-style tennis league can't steal the importance of grand slams

A recent article by the Bleacher Report on the most influential people in tennis featured two famous tennis promoters - Ion Tiriac at no. 22 and Larry Ellison at no. 2. Don’t be surprised if you see India’s very own Mahesh Bhupathi join that list in the near future. You can call out Bhupathi for several things but you certainly can’t accuse him for not daring or dreaming big. His latest venture, the International Premier Tennis League may fall flat on his face, just like his short-lived commerical partnership with Andy Murray. But at least he has made an attempt to find a niche in the tennis world and claim it as his own. And if he does succeed, you can be assured that the former world no.1 doubles player will become one of the big power-wielders in the sport. [caption id=“attachment_576704” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Will Bhupathi’s league be any different? PTI[/caption] For those who are not caught up on the IPTL, here’s a quick lowdown - the tournament takes place between 28 November and 29 December across five Asian cities - Hong Kong, Mumbai, Singapore, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur playing home and away. Each match will have five sets and feature one set of men’s singles, one set of women’s singles, one set of double’s, one of mixed doubles and finally between the legends. Every team will be given a budget up to $10 million in order to sign between six to ten players during the draft which takes place in Dubai on this Sunday. Bhupathi’s concept is hardly new – The World Team Tennis, spearheaded by Billie Jean King, has been around since the 1970s but does not attract many eyeballs or attention. Will Bhupathi’s league be any different? The early indications certainly seem to indicate so. The Indian has managed to line-up an impressive star cast of players. 8 of the world’s top 10 ranked men (barring Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro), 3 of the top 5 ranked women, a strong supporting cast from the second tier on both tours and a bunch of former grand slam men’s champions. Bhupathi’s brainchild, if he can pull it off, scores on two reasons. Firstly, several tennis players anyways spend part of their off-season playing exhibitions around the world. Why not get all these players together and turn it into a high-profile competition under one umbrella in a made-for-TV format. Secondly, the tournament is based in Asia – the growth centre for the sport in recent years where fans don’t get too many opportunities to see big names in their cities. The players have often complained about the length of the tennis season. But when you are guaranteed a paycheck of close to $1 million a night, even Rafael Nadal’s knees don’t seem to mind that much. While the top players like Nadal, Murray, Djokovic, Serena and Azarenka will pick and choose when and how much they want to play – for the others, the IPTL provides extra cash, media exposure and a chance to train with other professionals over a period of three weeks. Bhupathi’s vision is clear – to make this event the equivalent of the IPL in cricket. And while the traditionalists may balk at the kind of money being offered to players to give up their off-season training in pursuit of more dollars, this event is unlikely to disrupt the importance of the grand slams and Davis/ Fed Cup events in the tennis world. At its best, Bhupathi’s league will be a fun-filled light-hearted competition that will keep tennis in the spotlight even in the off-season. Whether he can sustain its relevance in a world where the grand slams remain the ultimate goal of very professional is the question to ask.