Upcoming season or competition: 2016 International Premier Tennis League season |
|
Sport | Team tennis |
---|---|
Founded | 2013 |
Founder | Mahesh Bhupathi |
Inaugural season | 2014 |
Director | Mahesh Bhupathi |
Motto | Break the Code |
No. of teams | 4 |
Countries |
India Japan Singapore United Arab Emirates |
Continent | Asia |
Most recent champion(s) |
Singapore Slammers |
Most titles | Singapore Slammers (2) |
Sponsor(s) | The Coca-Cola Company |
Official website | www |
The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL, officially the Coca-Cola International Premier Tennis League Presented by Qatar Airways pursuant to sponsorship agreements with The Coca-Cola Company and Qatar Airways) is an annual team tennis league that takes place in various cities in Asia. Founded in 2013, the elite level exhibition tennis tournament took place for the first time in November 2014.
Mahesh Bhupathi announced the founding of the International Premier Tennis League on 25 May 2013, in Paris. The initial plan was to start the league with six charter franchises in Asia with the inaugural season commencing in November 2014. Bhupathi said the league would be modeled after the Indian Premier League, a cricket league in India. Justin Gimelstob said that the league would be star-driven as World Team Tennis was in the 1970s.
On 21 January 2014, IPTL announced the locations of the six charter franchises for the league's inaugural season. Five franchises would play their home matches in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Singapore. A sixth franchise would play its home matches in an undisclosed city in the Middle East. There was confusion surrounding the announcement. Some media outlets reported that there would be five franchises, not six as had been previously announced, and did not include the Hong Kong franchise among the five. Later news reports in February 2014, indicated that there would be five franchises including one based in Hong Kong but not one in the Middle East.