The president of the Asian Tennis Federation (ATF), Anil Khanna, issued a statement backing both the leagues proposed by Mahesh Bhupathi and Vijay Amritraj, apart from hinting at a third league in collaboration with another Asian nation.
In a statement released here on Tuesday, Anil Khanna said: “Asian nations are looking forward to watching high quality tennis and the league format, which is now being introduced in Asia and India, will expand to other nations as well.”
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“ATF is already working closely with another nation to have a 3 or 4-days league programme with top international players at the end of the year,” Khanna said.
Extending total support to the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) launched by Bhupathi, Khanna said, “ATF is giving full support to this very challenging and innovative initiative taken by Mahesh Bhupathi in bringing the highest level of tennis to Asia in a competitive form.
“ATF is requesting all its affiliated national federations — including UAE, India, Singapore and Philippines, where the IPTL is proposed to be held, to give full cooperation and infrastructural support for the success of IPTL.”
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As the president of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), Khanna said he was pleased with AITA’s initiative with Vijay Amritraj taking shape in the form of the Champions Tennis League (CTL), to be played in six cities across the country.
“Highly ranked players and legends, including Indian players, will be part of the six teams. With this new initiative, high quality tennis will be brought to six states in India,” he said.
Summing up, Khanna lauded the efforts of both Bhupathi and Amritraj, for the growth and success of tennis.