CTL, Vijay Amritraj's answer to IPTL, to have big names like Venus Williams and David Ferrer

Venus Williams

Vijay Amritraj has successfully launched the Champions Tennis League, to be played in six cities across India from 17th to 26th November. The league will feature some of the biggest names in tennis such as Venus Williams, David Ferrer and Agnieszka Radwanska.

Amritraj, a global ambassador of tennis, announced the league on Monday. The league will have six teams based in Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Chennai and Pune. International players ranked between 5 and 25 will participate in the league along with retired legends and Indian stars.

“I have been discussing an initiative like this with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for many years now. Finally, we have decided that together, we can bring a level of tennis entertainment that has never been seen in India before,” Amritraj said.

The players were also included in an auction to decide the team they wil represent during the league. The tournament’s official Twitter account was updating the live draw.

The first draft is out! (Martina Hingis) @mhingis to play for #Chennai and (Agnieszka Radwanska) @ARadwanska to play for #Pune! #CTLIndia

— CTLIndia (@CTLIndia2014) October 1, 2014

(David Ferrer) @DavidFerrer87 to play for #Punjab and (Kevin Anderson) @kevinanderson18 to play for #Delhi at #CTLIndia!

— CTLIndia (@CTLIndia2014) October 1, 2014

(Venus Williams) @Venuseswilliams makes it to #TeamBangalore! Stay tuned to find out if which player made it to your city! #CTLIndia

— CTLIndia (@CTLIndia2014) October 1, 2014

India’s top ranked player Somdev Devvarman was picked by the Punjab team. He will be joined by Spanish star David Ferrer. Tennis legends Pat Cash and Mark Philippousis will play from Pune and Chennai respectively. Agnieszka Radwanska will also play for the Pune team.

Alize Cornet and Sergi Bruguera will fight for the Mumbai team. The Delhi team grabbed tennis star Jelena Jankovic along with Kevin Anderson. Venus Williams will play for the Bangalore team.

Here are the team in full:

Chennai: Martina Hingis, Mikhail Youzhny, Mark Philippoussis and Jeevan N.

Bangalore: Venus Williams, Feliciano Lopez, Thomas Enqvist and Ramkumar Ramanathan.

Pune: Agnieszka Radwanska, Philip Kohlschreiber, Pat Cash and Saketh Myneni.

Punjab: David Ferrer, Greg Rusedski, Somdev Devvarman and Garbine Muguruza.

Delhi: Kevin Anderson, Jelena Jankovic, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Sanam Singh.

Mumbai: Sergi Bruguera, Tommy Robredo, Alize Cornet and Sriram Balaji.