The Tennis Premier League (TPL) has a few prominent international players, men and women, playing along with the cream of Indian talent like Sumit Nagal and Rutuja Bhosale, on a fast-paced 20-point format, for pure entertainment. However, at its heart, the focus of TPL is the healthy growth of Indian tennis.
A vibrant product for television, as Sony Sports gets ready to broadcast the event for the second year from December 12 to 17, there is a certain aura about the league that is triggering positive vibes for the game.
There is real money for the players. The best Indian player with two Challenger singles titles this season, Nagal gets ₹18.5 lakh, as he strengthens Gujarat Panthers, along with Karman Kaur Thandi who pockets ₹8.5 lakh.
Quite significantly, the players get an average of about ₹five lakh each this season, as compared to about ₹1.5 lakh in 2019 in the second edition.
“We are extremely happy, positive and hopeful with the way things have shaped up, considering the growth of the league each year,” said Kunal Thakkur, the young founder of TPL.
Like the way the Laver Cup turned to black to be unique in its second edition in 2017, as compared to the blue of the Australian and US Open, the red clay of Roland Garros, and the green grass of Wimbledon, the TPL will have a charcoal grey tennis court at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune this year.
Landmark season
“We will have the charcoal grey tennis court for the first time in India. We wanted the fifth edition to be a landmark season for us and wanted to make it look very different. Like the unique format we have, it will be a unique colour that we hope will be attractive and novel on television.
“The colour of the ball remains the same and we feel that the ball will be nicely visible. It is indeed a task to paint the courts and again resurface it to original colour for regular use later. Yet, we feel that it would be worth the effort,” said Kunal.
It is not just the appearance that matters for TPL. It has a mobile app that is trying to engage all the tennis aspirants across the country and bring them on one platform to help healthily propel the game. It is expected to grow to be the one-stop shop for all tennis needs.
“The response to the app has been fantastic. With the support of AITA and the State Association in Maharashtra, we plan to host many grassroots-level tournaments in the country. We have already organised more than 30 tournaments in Mumbai alone. The players and coaches…
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