5 reasons to look forward to the Champions Tennis League

Vijay Amritraj, the brain behind the CTL

After the Indian Premier League, the Indian Badminton League, the Pro Kabaddi League and most recently the Indian Super League, all eyes are now on the beautiful game of tennis. Fans of the sport in India have a lot to cheer about over the next fortnight with the launch of the country’s first ever professional tennis league – the Champions Tennis League, or CTL.

The brainchild of legendary Indian player Vijay Amritraj, the league starts in two days’ time and promises to be an action-packed affair. Here are five reasons to look forward to the hugely anticipated event –

1. The biggest tennis stars descend in India, a first for the country

India has long been deprived of top class tennis action due to the absence of any real top tier tournament in the country. There is only one ATP 250 tournament in India, which takes place in Chennai at the beginning of every year, and even there we barely get to see two or three big names participating in the tournament. Watching the big stars of tennis live in action has pretty much been a pipe dream for Indian fans. Until now, that is.

The CTL has a host of superstars (both current and retired) like Venus Williams, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Jelena Jankovic, Feliciano Lopez, Martina Hingis, Pat Cash and many other players taking part in it, and the Indian fans’ prayers of getting to watch the big names play right in front of their eyes will finally be answered!

2. Indian talent + foreign superstars = win-win for everyone

There are a host of Indian tennis stars taking part in the tournament too. With the likes of Ramkumar Ramanathan, Saketh Myneni, Sriram Balaji and Somdev Devvarman set to play major roles for their respective teams in the tournament, the local fans will get a chance to watch their home-grown athletes perform alongside the world’s best.

The tournament is a chance for these players to make their mark on the big stage and assert themselves while getting the home fans behind them. It will also be a good opportunity for Ramanathan & Co. to learn from the top class tennis players that they will be playing with and against.

3. Wacky match-ups galore

Venus Williams (L) and Martina Hingis (R) are set to resume their rivalry on the court

With a fascinating mix of players joining the six different teams in the league, there are some truly fresh pairings and match-ups in store for tennis fans to savour. Feliciano Lopez and Venus Williams on the same side of the net? Mikhail Youzhny trying to match tricks with Martina Hingis? Saketh Myneni attempting to handle the temper of Marcos Baghdatis? Leander Paes taking on Tommy Robredo in singles?

This is the stuff that the wackiest tennis dreams are made of!

4. Fresh, crisp format designed to generate maximum thrill

For all of its innate beauty, tennis can sometimes turn into a tedious affair. With long deuce games and endless baseline rallies, a tennis match can theoretically go on forever. But with the crisp format to be adopted in the CTL, you know every match will end in double quick time, thus enhancing the thrill factor.

Each match will be a best-of-one-set affair, and a tie-break would start at 5-5 instead of the traditional score of 6-6. Moreover, each tiebreak will be best-of-nine-points, with no requirement of a two-point advantage to end it. Now that’s what you call a pocket dynamite of a match!

5. A likely precursor to ATP/WTA tournaments coming to India, and the overall development of tennis in the country

One of the main aims of the CTL is to promote and popularise the sport in India. And judging by the tremendous buzz the tournament has created among sports fans in the country even before kick-off, we may be there already. An increase in the number of tennis fans in the country could pave the way for the WTA to come back to India and also probably for another ATP tournament to join the fairly successful Chennai Open.

Who knows, we may soon get to see the Federers and Nadals of the world playing in India during the regular tennis season too! The success of the CTL could also prompt the rise of world-class tennis infrastructure in the country. With more eyeballs for the sport, there may soon be better academies and coaches to keep up with the increasing demand for the same among India’s youngsters.

Originally published on the Champions Tennis League site here.