IPL style tennis league, called the 'Premier Tennis League', to kick off in Pune on Jan 19

India’s Vishnu Vardhan

The Premier Tennis League (PTL), a tennis league along the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL), is set to be held at the Deccan Gymkhana in Pune from January 19th to January 25th.

What started as the Maharashtra Tennis League in its first edition last year has now been rechristened as the PTL and is generating quite a lot of interest, with some of India’s top players participating in the league.

Hyderabad’s Vishnu Vardhan (who partnered Leander Paes in the London Olympic Games in 2012) and Sowjanya Bavisetti became the most expensive male and female players respectively at the auctions conducted for the second edition of the Premier Tennis League in December.

Ramkumar Ramanathan, who shocked India’s No. 1 men’s singles star Somdev Devvarman in the Chennai Open first round recently, is also set to feature in this year’s competition.

The league has also seen the arrival of a new team, with Navjeevan Constructions-owned Vibrant Volleyers joining the five teams that were already part of the league’s first edition. Those five teams are Accurate Aces, Dazzling Deuces, Baseline Bombers, Mumbai Blasters and Sharp Smashers.

A tie between two teams will comprise of one women’s singles, two men’s singles, one men’s doubles and one mixed doubles match.

The league will see matches being held in the morning from 11 am and in the evening from 4.30.