With all of the hype surrounding the International Professional Tennis League (IPTL) and its inaugural season and this new brand of tennis in Asia, one should give proper respect to the original innovators of this kind of city-team tennis concept and that is World Team Tennis, created in 1973.
The following is an excerpt from The Bud Collins History of Tennis book (new edition in 2015 available for pre-sale here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1937559386/ref=cm_sw_r_pi_dp_0n1Cub1E1J5WB) that explains the history of World Team Tennis.
City team franchises, the foundation of major pro sports in the United States, came to tennis with the establishment of World Team Tennis in 1973. The original league lasted five years, folding because of large financial losses after the 1978 season. Founded by Dennis Murphy, Jordan Kaiser and Larry King (then husband of Billie Jean King), the WTT operated with 16 cities between Boston and Honolulu in 1974, a high point, and involved most of the game’s leading players during its lifespan. They were well paid to ignore the summer season and play team tennis, a new concept in which teams had both male and female players. It was single-set tennis, five sets (men’s and women’s singles and doubles plus mixed doubles) constituting a match, the score based on total games won. Fearing the summer competition, the International Tennis Federation railed against WTT, and the French Open barred players from the league in 1974, a move which deprived Jimmy Connors, who won the other three majors, a shot at a Grand Slam.
A feature of the first season was the unprecedented appearance of women coaching professional teams containing men— Billie Jean King led the Philadelphia Freedoms, Rosie Casals the Detroit Loves. King revived the concept modestly under the masthead of Team Tennis in 1981, with a shorter season, and few big-name players, although Connors and Martina Navratilova came aboard in 1991 with Los Angeles and Atlanta respectively. In 1992, Team Tennis resumed using its old name, World Team Tennis.
A number of big names have participated in WTT over the past few years including, Andre Agassi, Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Andy Roddick, Martina Navratilova and the Williams sisters. The championship trophy is called the King Trophy in honor of founder Billie Jean King.
For more information on World Team Tennis, go to www.WTT.com
The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), the inaugural international city-based professional tennis league featuring legendary players such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova, will be available for live viewing via TV and on-line pay-per-view in the United States by Integrated Sports Media beginning November 28th through the conclusion of the season on December 13. All 24 matches of the highly anticipated inaugural season will be available on both cable and satellite pay-per-view – live and for replay – via iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH and Vubiquity and online at www.GFL.TV starting at $9.95 per match and $69.95 for packages.
The International Premier Tennis League (www.iptlworld.com) is the first international city-based professional tennis league played across four countries. Created to for fill the increasing demand for top-level tennis in Asia, the IPTL features teams based in India, Singapore, the Philippines and the United Arab Emirates featuring current champions, tennis legends and up-coming talent in a unique format of team matches to determine a team champion. Seventeen-time-major tournament champion Federer, 18-time major winner and current world No. 1 Serena Williams, current world No. 1 and seven-time major champion Djokovic and five-time major champion and former world No. 1 Sharapova headline the players competing in the inaugural season of the IPTL. The league also features past champions such as 14-time major champion Pete Sampras and career Golden Grand Slam winner Andre Agassi and other top current players including 2013 Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, 2014 Wimbledon finalist Genie Bouchard, 2010 Wimbledon finalist Tomas Berdych, and former world No. 1s Ana Ivanovic and Lleyton Hewitt among others. In all, the league will feature 21 Grand Slam tournament champions and 14 current or former world No. 1 players competing in 24 team matches from November 28th through December 13.
Team rosters are as follows:
Manila Mavericks – Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray, Joe Wilfried Tsonga, Kristen Flipkens, Daniel Nestor, Carlos Moya, Treat Huey
Singapore Slammers – Serena Williams, Andre Agassi, Thomas Berdych, Lleyton Hewitt, Nick Krygios, Daniela Hantuchova, Patrick Rafter, Bruno Soares
Micromax Indian Aces – Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Gael Monfils, Ana Ivanovic, Sania Mirza, Rohan Bopanna, Fabrice Santoro
UAE Royals – Novak Djokovic, Marin Cilic, Caroline Wozniacki, Goran Ivanisevic, Genie Bouchard, Malek Jaziri, Nenad Zimonjic
Each IPTL match will consist of five sets played by different players that will include men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and former champions singles. Each game won counts as one point for the team points total and the team that wins the most games overall across the five sets wins the match. The IPTL matches will feature live entertainment, a running shot clock and many more features to ’Break the Code’ of the traditional etiquette of tennis to attract a new audience to the sport across the world. The team with the most accumulated points during the season are declared league champions and are awarded the IPTL Challenge Trophy in Dubai on December 13.
The IPTL season begins November 28 in Manila, Philippines. The November 28-30 matches will be played in Manila, Philippines. The December 2-4 matches will be played in Singapore. The December 6-8 matches will be played in New Delhi, India and the December 11-13 matches will be played in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The full schedule of matches are as follows:
Dates and times from Manila, Philippines:
November 28th
Aces vs. Slammers (3:00 am ET/12:00 Midnight PT) Mavericks vs. Royals (6:30 am ET/3:00 am PT)
November 29th
Royals v Slammers (3:00 am ET/12:00 Midnight PT) Mavericks vs. Aces (6:30 am ET/3:00 am PT)
November 30th
Royals vs. Aces (3:00 am ET/12:00 Midnight PT) Mavericks vs. Slammers (6:30 am ET/3:00 am PT)
Dates and times from Singapore:
December 2nd
Aces v Royals (3:00 am ET/12:00 Midnight PT) Slammers v Mavericks (6:30 am ET/3:30 am PT)
December 3rd
Mavericks v Royals (3:00 am ET/12:00 Midnight PT) Slammers v Aces (6:30 am ET/3:30 am PT)
December 4th
Mavericks v Aces (3:00 am ET/12:00 Midnight PT) Slammers v Royals (6:30 am ET/3:30 am PT)
Dates and times from India:
December 6th
Royals v Slammers (5:30 am ET/2:30 am PT) Aces v. Mavericks (9:00 am ET/6:00 am PT)
December 7th
Aces v Slammers (5:30 am ET/2:30 am PT)
Mavericks v. Royals (9:00 am ET/6:00 am PT)
December 8th
Mavericks v. Slammers (5:30 am ET/2:30 am PT) Aces v. Royals (9:00 am ET/6:00 am PT)
Dates and times from UAE:
December 11th
Aces v Slammers (7:00 am ET/4:00 am PT)
Royals v Mavericks (10:30 am ET/7:30 am PT)
December 12th
Mavericks v Slammers (7:00 am ET/4:00 am PT) Royals v Aces (10:30 am ET/7:30 am PT)
December 13th
Mavericks v Aces (7:00 am ET/4:00 am PT) Royals v Slammers (10:30 am ET/7:30 am PT)
- Mylan World Team Tennis