Fresh off his win at Valencia and Vienna, World No. 8 Andy Murray is participating in the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), a pioneering new event that promises to revolutionize the way the world looks at tennis and transcend the popularity of the much-loved sport.
Murray is pleased about the league, which brings the thrill of the well-liked format to a sport that is followed by millions across the world.
“It’s definitely exciting to be part of it in the first year,” he says.
The new sporting spectacle will ‘Break the Code’ of the traditional etiquette of tennis, bringing the excitement of a team based competition.
Talking about his love for team sport, Murray said, “I like the format. Tennis is an individual sport and you don’t get to interact with others during your matches that much.
"When I was younger I used to play a lot of football, and I always enjoyed being part of a team, so being able to have that feeling of being part of a team again will be good.”
Murray is playing for the Manila ‘Mavericks’, IPTL’s Manila franchise, alongside icons such as Maria Sharapova, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Kirsten Flipkens, Daniel Nestor, Carlos Moya and top Philippines player Treat Huey.
“Playing in Manila will be fun. The fans there don’t get to see a lot of live tennis, so that will be good. With the season being so busy, it can be difficult to take a holiday so you don’t often get to travel anywhere different to the countries on the tour,” explains the 27-year-old star.
What’s more, with exciting features such as time-outs, power points, shoot outs, a running shot clock, Hawk-eye and live entertainment, the League promises to fulfill the increasing demand for top-level tennis in Asia.
“Attracting new fans to the sport is important and I’m looking forward to helping take tennis somewhere new. The IPTL format is something that has never been done before and there are many different aspects that make it interesting.
“The fact that every game counts toward the team score is also a great idea, you’re not just playing for yourself, you have to think about your team mates as well and put them in as strong a position as possible at the end of your own set in the match,” said Murray.
2014 has been a year of ups and downs for Murray after returning from back surgery.
“It was a while until I felt like I could play at 100 per cent again. However, over the last few months I have started to feel back in that place and have had some great matches and some great results. It was great to win Shenzhen in its first ever year and I hope the Mavericks can do the same with the IPTL.”
Murray is often referred to as a sporting legend but feels he is still too young to be classed alongside people that would be given that title, explaining that he still has a few good years of my career left. I hope I can win more events and Grand Slams,” he says smiling.
