Cash-strapped IPTL will ‘bounce back’, says boss

SINGAPORE: The International Premier Tennis League will “bounce back” despite axing Roger Federer and Serena Williams over money problems and dropping from five tournaments to three, its founder told AFP.

Mahesh Bhupathi, who launched the IPTL in 2014, said he was sure “new money” was on its way for the innovative tournament, without specifying where it would come from.

“We’ve had some challenges this year but you know we stayed afloat which was the most important thing so you know, whatever it is, we will bounce back,” he said in an interview in Singapore.

The IPTL, which features a shortened scoring system, shot-clock, cheerleaders, DJs and franchise-based teams is billed as a refreshing update to the traditional tennis format.

But this year’s tournament is missing most of the game’s top players and this week, the IPTL said superstars Federer and Williams were skipping the Indian leg.

Bhupathi initially blamed their absence on chaos caused by India’s withdrawal of 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes from circulation. But he told AFP they were cut to save costs.

“The revenue and the cost wasn’t matching so you know, we didn’t want to go into a big (financial) hole just for the sake of doing it,” said Bhupathi.