Andy Murray has thrown his weight behind the creation of the International Premier Tennis League – but wants the yearly schedule for top players adjusted accordingly.
The Wimbledon champion insists he is excited about the competition which will see the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Pete Sampras all team up to represent cities such as Dubai, Mumbai and Singapore in a series of matches between November 28 and December 14.
As in the cricketing version – the IPL – players have been auctioned and bought by franchises to help boost the profile of tennis in Asia.
Confusion continues to reign about the logistics of the tournament – and who exactly is financing it – with Andre Agassi already admitting he is now not sure of his availability while others have accused organiser Mahesh Bhupathi of congesting an already heaving schedule on the ATP tour.
Murray though, speaking after losing a highly entertaining exhibition match to Djokovic at Madison Square Garden on Monday night as part of World Tennis day, is keen for the tournament to go ahead – providing the ATP try to revise the amount of Masters events the top players are contracted to play.
Elite players such as the Scot and Serbian Djokovic have to play in eight of the nine Masters 1000 events during the year or risk losing ranking points.
“It is not a problem with the schedule, it is the amount of mandatory events we need to play," said Murray who has been listed to play for Team Bangkok.
“The schedule is fine, we are just told we have to play in all the tournaments. People get it mixed up. It’s great that there are so many tennis events on right now.
"I got injured last year and missed three and a half months, but because of the way the rankings work, I have enough points to be ranked No5 in the world. However, the way things work with all the mandatory events, I am getting punished for being injured and not playing.
“It is not about the schedule being too long – that is fine, it’s more about if we can decide when we can or cannot play. If we don’t play then our rankings can go down which can affect a lot of things, seedings and many, many other things.
“For me I haven’t been big into playing exhibitions, I have taken my training very seriously for a number of years, done all my work in Miami in the off-season. I have not been one who has been travelling all over the world playing in exhibitions.
“My agreement to play in the League was I would play for one week in one city, I wouldn’t have to move around so I could do all my training and play some matches against some good players which in the off-season isn’t easy to find.
“Playing in exhibitions can be good, you can try things out that you wouldn’t normally do, against the top players.”
Djokovic, signed up to represent Dubai, added: “It is a concept which was very interesting from the start when it was presented. It is a great idea and can help bring a lot of positive things to the sport.”
IPTL reaction
Andre Agassi, signed by Team Singapore: “My agreement to do it was based on a few very specific conditions. Certainly economics played a little part in it but also time away played another part. I can’t be away for more than four or five days so I set some limitations and had some dates in December. Now I read in an email that the dates are over Thanksgiving. That would be a non-starter for me. Six or seven days away is too much of a price to pay.”
Pete Sampras, signed by Team Mumbai: “I feel like I have committed to three matches. I’m not sure when or where yet, I believe in a couple of cities, maybe the Dubai, India part. But I think they’re still working on the schedule.“It’s quite an endeavour these guys are trying to put together, having these four cities and putting up a lot of money.”
Tomas Berdych, signed by Team Singapore: “It’s an honour to be picked. I’m always looking for a new experience and I see this is a good one. I think it’s going to be a great success.”
Roger Federer, not taking part: “Firstly, I want to see whether it takes off or not. I know a lot of people have invested in it or are part of it. Anywhere where tennis grows is a good thing, so I hope it takes off and becomes very successful. In Asia, there is enormous potential – in places like China and India, due to the number of people that live there and the excitement they have for tennis.”
Li Na, Asia’s highest ranked female player, not taking part: “I already put my schedule together at the end of last year. When I was doing it I didn’t see any (IPTL) tournament…so that’s why I didn’t do it.”
