Would like more teams in CTL but Federer, Nadal don't make economical sense: Amritraj

Bengaluru: Champions Tennis League (CTL) organisers would like to add more teams in the next season but made it clear that it does not make sense for them to get on board expensive players such as Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. “Economically, it doesn’t make sense. This event is competitive, not an exhibition match. For us it is very clear that we need to be competitive,” Amritraj said when asked if Novak Djokovic, Nadal and Federer could be seen in CTL. “There are many leagues being conducted in the country and one need to work within the realms of the existing finance,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_245362” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Vijay Amritraj. Reuters[/caption] Top 25 players have been playing in CTL since its inception in 2014. “The second edition of the CTL was fantastic. It was better than the first. There were exciting and nail-biting finishes, which generated interest among people to watch matches at the stadium or television. The final was an absolute thriller. These kind of matches cannot be manufactured,” Amritraj said. Swiss legend Martina Hingis and former British-Canadian star Greg Rudeski were among the foreign attractions in CTL-2, alongside former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and current World No.8 Flavia Penatta of Italy also played this year. Last year Venus Williams and Leander Paes also participated. Replying to a query, Amritraj said he would like to have eight teams. “We would like to have more teams. There are other cities who are interested. If we can actually get to eight teams that would be fantastic, but we are constantly constrained by the challenge of the dates. Players don’t have much time.” “There are just two weeks in November where players have space to participate in CTL but then it comes down to their interest whether they want to play or not because they all make so much of money all year. Therefore we have to induce them to play,” he said. PTI