Chennai: In a move that will apparently see two Indian tennis stars pitted against each other, Vijay Amritraj on Monday revealed his plans for the IPL-style tournament, the Champions Tennis League (CTL). It was only recently that Mahesh Bhupathi launched a similar league (International Premier Tennis League) with the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams confirming their participation.
Leander Paes, the estranged partner of Bhupathi, is set to feature in CTL along with a few marquee names from the ATP and WTA Tour.
Sources say it was AITA president Anil Khanna who entrusted Amritraj with the job of giving shape to the ambitious project in a bid to rival Bhupathi’s IPTL.
CTL is scheduled to be played between November 17-26 at various venues in India, while the ITPL will begin two days after the CTL final, at the Philippines.
CTL will feature six city-based teams and will see 13 matches played over a ten-day period across India. The champions will take home Rs 1 crore, while the runners-up will bag Rs 50 lakhs, according to a press release.
As of now, there is no clarity on the overseas players who will feature in CTL, but the release said it will have players with international rankings between No. 5 and No. 25. Amritraj, chairman and managing director of Second Serve Pvt. Ltd, the promoters of the league, said he is in final stage of negotiations with interested parties in Bangalore, Mumbai, New Delhi and Chandigarh.
