The Tennis Premier League (TPL) is returning for its fourth season this year and is set to begin on December 7 and conclude on December 11.
The tournament will take place in Pune at the Balewadi Stadium. Eight franchises will compete for the prized trophy: Bengaluru Spartans, Chennai Stallions, Delhi Binny’s Brigade, Finecab Hyderabad Strikers, Gujarat Panthers, Mumbai Leon Army and Pune Jaguars. One franchise will soon be announced.
In August, the Tennis Premier League’s player draft for the 2022 season is set to take place. Through Tennis Premier League, a few upcoming Indian stars will also get the chance to rub shoulders with some of the finest players in the world. The organisers also intend to stage a talent scouting event in October in four cities – Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Gujarat. Each team will get one wild card entry from these talent scouting events.
Here is a quick look at the format:
The new 2022 Wimbledon men’s doubles champion Matthew Ebden will be the marquee player for Tennis Premier League and has been appointed as its international spokesperson for season 4.
Speaking about the upcoming event fresh off his Grand Slam win, the popular Australian ace said, “2022 has been the standout year of my career and at this time, I am delighted to be joining the TPL family to help extend this riveting form and grow its awareness internationally.”
Indian legend Leander Paes, the owner of Mumbai Leon Army and who was Matt Ebden’s doubles partner on the tour in 2020, was among the first few to comment on Tennis Premier League 4 and he was beaming with excitement as he spoke about the upcoming event.
“I am pumped up to hear this news. I am excited about the talent that is coming to the league this season, which will probably make this the most competitive edition. I am elated that Tennis Premier League is organising a scouting event to give back to the community and find hidden gems at the grass-root level,” he said.
‘’It has been a standout year of my career, and at this time, I am
delighted to be joining the TPL family to help extend this riveting
form and grow its awareness internationally’’, said the 34-year-old Ebden, who had finished doubles runner-up at the Australian Open this season.
‘’I have always had a special connection with India and shared great relations with Indian tennis players on tour. I have a huge appreciation for the passion Indians have for tennis. I have fond memories of Pune’’, said Ebden, who had partnered with multiple Grand Slam champion Leander Paes on the Tour in 2020, and had also won a title with Divij Sharan.
As part of the grassroots programme, the league will also have talent scouting events in October in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad. There will be eight teams, and they will play on a league cum knock-out basis in a unique scoring format. Each tie will have men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.
The secretary of the Maharashtra Tennis Association, Sunder Iyer also expressed happiness and excitement about the league being packaged in a ‘’highly entertaining format for the fans’’.
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