Dubai: The Philippines is gearing up for what is easily the biggest tennis event ever staged in the country when the International Premier Tennis League’s (IPTL) Manila leg comes to town from November 28-30 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Representing Manila, to be known as the Mavericks, are former Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic champion Andy Murray of Great Britain, Maria Sharapova Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Carlos Moya, Kirsten Flipkens, Daniel Nestor and Filipino-American doubles specialist Treat Huey, who is also the coach of the team.
While Sharapova is expected to be a star draw for Filipino fans, Murray too will have tennis enthusiasts lining up for tickets to the gala event. And while the Scot hasn’t had a great year by his standards owing to his recovery from injury, he did win the Shenzen Open recently and in an exclusive interview to XPRESS, talks about the upcoming event and his Filipino idol. Excerpts…
What made you come to a decision about being part of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League?
I like the format. Tennis is an individual sport and you don’t get to interact with others during your matches that much. When I was younger I used to play a lot of football, and I always enjoyed being part of a team, so being able to have that feeling of being part of a team again will be good. Attracting new fans to the sport is also important.
What according to you is the most exciting part of the League?
The format is something that has never been done before and there are a lot of different aspects that make it interesting. The shot clock is a great idea and will speed play up and hopefully make tennis even more exciting for the fans with the shorter breaks between points. The fact that every game counts toward the team score is also a great idea, you’re not just playing for yourself, you have to think about your teammates as well and put them in as strong a position as possible at the end of your own set in the match.
Do you think the IPTL will change the face of world tennis?
Who knows? It’s definitely exciting to be part of it in the first year. Playing in Manila will be fun as well. The fans there don’t get to see an awful lot of live tennis, so that will be good. I am also hoping to meet an idol of mine, Manny Pacquiao, and I will try and get him along to a match, am not sure what his tennis is like, but will happily give him a few tips!
Audiences in Manila are waiting to watch you live! Are you looking forward to playing tennis in these new Asian cities?
I haven’t been to Manila, before so it’s exciting. With the season being so busy it can be difficult to take a holiday so you don’t often get to travel anywhere different to the countries on the tour, so I’m looking forward to helping take tennis somewhere new.
What do you know about Treat Huey?
Treat is a great doubles player. He plays pretty regularly with Dominc Inglot, who I have known for a long time, and they play incredibly well together. It’s great that one of the teams is based in Manila for him. It’ll be a special time playing in front of his home crowd, which is something he probably would never have done before on this scale.
The weight of responsibility to Manila is now on your shoulders. What is your game plan?
Haha, I wouldn’t say it’s all on my shoulders, we win as a team and we lose as a team and I’m sure we will all do our best to support each other, and there are some great players in our team. I’m going to make sure I’m prepared and try and play as best as I can and enjoy the new experience, obviously I don’t want to reveal too much, just incase our rivals are reading this!
Even though 2014 has been an up-and-down year, you have been doing well in the past few weeks and won the Shenzen Open. How do you look at the season so far?
It was tough, when I returned after my back surgery. It took much longer to get back to full fitness than I had originally expected. It was a while until I felt like I could play at 100 per cent again. However, over the last few months I have started to feel back in that place, and have had some great matches and some great results. It was great to win Shenzhen in its first year and I hope the Mavericks can do the same with the IPTL.
At 27, you’re already a British Sporting legend. What do you have to say about this?
I think I’m still too young to be classed alongside people that would be given that title and I still have a good few years of my career left, in which I hope I can win more events and Grand Slams.
Is there anything you’re looking forward to doing in Asia other than playing tennis in the IPTL?
I don’t know how much spare time we’re going to have when we are over there, but whenever I am in a new place, I like to try and take in some of the sights. I’ve heard the Intramuros in Manila is pretty spectacular and I have also heard of some great restaurants in the area, so I’m pretty excited to explore. But if anyone has any tips, let me know.
