• Home
• /
• Sports

Mahesh Bhupathi tight-lipped over International Premier Tennis League

There have been speculations that some big IPTL announcements would be made in the next few days in Dubai. Bhupathi has even reportedly got the green signal from world number one and 13-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal.

Australian Open semi-finalist Tomas Berdych may have revealed that he has signed up for Mahesh Bhupathi’s ambitious and controversial International Premier Tennis League, but the Indian doubles legend was tight-lipped when Khaleej Times approached him for a quick interview after his first round doubles match at the Dubai Tennis Championship on Wednesday.

“Please don’t mind, but I am not going to answer any IPTL related questions now,” Bhupathi told this correspondent after he and his partner — Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin — entered the doubles quarter-final in Dubai with a hard-fought 4-6 6-3 16-14 win over Oliver Marach of Austria and Florin Mergea of Romania.

There have been speculations that some big IPTL announcements would be made in the next few days in Dubai. Bhupathi has even reportedly got the green signal from world number one and 13-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. If the Spaniard does take part in the event — to be held in November-December this year — he would earn $1 million per night.

While many of the world’s top players have shown an interest in the tournament, Bhupathi’s reluctance to reveal anything about his Indian Premier League-inspired event only puts question marks over the very move of having another event in an already cramped tennis calendar.

Tennis lovers would also be keen to know the stance ATP would take if Bhupathi’s league sees the light of the day. What is more intriguing is that Berdych, who wants changes to Davis Cup schedule to ease the pressure on players, has officially admitted to signing up for an event that is going to be held during the off season, which will only reduce the recovery time for players after each punishing year!

Meanwhile, the 39-year-old Bhupathi, winner of four doubles and eight mixed doubles titles in Grand Slams, told Khaleej Times that 2014 would be the last season of his career. “Yes, I am retiring this year. I haven’t given much thought about playing in the Asian Games later this year,” Bhupathi said. Maybe, he wants to concentrate only on IPTL once the season gets over in November!