In its launch avatar, CTL will feature six city based teams across India. CTL will see 13 matches played over a ten day period from November 17th 2014 to November 26th 2014. The teams will be structured into 2 groups, each having 3 teams, where all teams play each other in a home and away format. The team with the highest number of games won in their respective group will play each other in the grand finale to win prize money of Rs. 1 crore. The runner-up will win Rs. 50 lakhs.
CTL teams will feature male and female players with international rankings between No. 5 and No. 25. Each of the 6 teams will also have an international legend as their playing captain, apart from a noted Indian male tennis player, plus a top ranked junior Indian girl and boy from each city. The teams will also travel to other cities bringing tennis excitement and entertainment in a spectacle that has never been seen on this scale in India before, for tennis.
Speaking about CTL, Vijay Amritraj, Chairman and Managing Director of Second Serve Pvt. Ltd., the company behind The Champions Tennis League, said, “I have been discussing an initiative like this with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for many years now. Finally, we have decided that together, we can bring a level of tennis entertainment that has never been seen in India before. Our players, the format, our partners and the entertainment being planned for this initiative will ensure a wonderful experience for our viewers, both on the ground and on television. I am very happy to be able to bring an integrated sports and entertainment format like the Champions Tennis League to the Indian tennis fans."
Speaking on the launch of the Champions Tennis League, Anil Khanna, Presidentof the All India Tennis Association said, “This is a good day for tennis in India. Working with Vijay and his team, we will see a tennis property that is far reaching in scale and stature and all of us at the AITA would like to wish the League every success. We will continue to see tennis growing in India and look forward to the success of the Champions Tennis League.”
