The traditional rules of tennis that have produced such riveting encounters in the centre court of Wimbledon and the court Philippe Chatrier of Roland Garros are gone.
In their stead are rules designed to make the matches less of a challenge for viewers and players alike.
With modern masters such as Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Gael Monfils, Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and legends such as Andre Agassi, Carlos Moya, Lleyton Hewitt and Pete Sampras, the IPTL is not lacking in glamour or stardust.
The 12-day league is already half complete and India’s Micromax Indian Aces lead the way. Philippines’ Manila Mavericks, Singapore’s DBS Singapore Slammers and UAE’s Musafir.com are not far behind though.
Each match is divided into five sets — men’s single, women’s single, men’s double, mixed doubles and men’s legend singles — but the winner of the tie is not decided by who wins the most sets, but by who wins the most games across those five sets. The winner gets four points and the loser gets zero, unless they win at least 10 games, in which case they get a solitary point and if they win 20 or more games, they get two.
To add to the confusion, there is no advantage system if a game is tied at 40-40, with the next point deciding the winner, nor is there any tiebreaker. Instead, a unique ‘shootout’ system is implemented.
Being played in a round-robin format, the tournament now heads to India, before its climax in Dubai on December 13.
The party tricks are out
With the tournament having no significance in the ATP points table, the players are not taking things too seriously in the league; in fact they are being encouraged not to do so. The league, after all, seems to be more about light entertainment than tennis. Tweeners — hitting the ball with the racket between the legs — are almost never played in a serious match but here they are nearly as common a sight as a booming forehand winner.
Singapore Slammers’ Nick Kyrgios proved as much with two successful tweeners; one against the Indian Aces’ Gael Monfils and Rohan Bopanna in a men’s doubles match and the second against Manila Mavericks’ Andy Murray in a men’s single match.
The loud music
Tennis courts across the world witness pin drop silence before a rally as players clear their mind and concentrate on the job at hand; the silence cutting through the tension, enhancing it. Here, the DJ plays music loudly and the players are clearly being distracted.
Monfils has been caught off guard on several occasions, moving his body to the tune of the songs and not even realising that the opponent was about to serve. During a line review, the music took a firmer grip of him and he broke into dance, much to the amusement of the crowd.
The antics of Goran Ivanisevic, the only male player ever to win the Wimbledon on a wild card, has quickly made him a fan favourite. From opting to hit the ball with his head to posing as a model and some amusingly over-the-top mimicry, Ivanisevic’s sense of humour has lit up the IPTL.
The Croatian has been such a hit that one of the cheerleaders even decided to make her way onto the middle and give Ivanisevic a private dance of his own, with the 43-year-old reacting in typically hilarious fashion.
For better or for worse, the IPTL has its own unique blend of tennis, where it is offering the lovers of the sport everything but tennis. The players are dancing, the music is blaring and the crowd is cheering; a far cry from the sweat and tears of the ATP Finals, but all in good fun.
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Great initiative by India to bring tennis to these asian countries !