Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic will be visiting India in December as mentor to the Rajasthan Tigers, who are set to compete in the third edition of the Tennis Premier League (TPL), the biggest Indian domestic competition.
The Tigers are hopeful that the presence of the Croat great in Mumbai can inspire them to success. They will be led by India’s current men’s number one tennis player Prajnesh Gunneswaran, with Aryan Goveas and Diana Marcinkevica also prominent members of the team.
TPL provides a platform for young players to rub shoulders with top Indian and international players, and aims to build on the growing popularity of the sport in the country.
Having been forced to skip a year in 2020 due to the pandemic, the league is set to return bigger and better than ever.
There will be eight teams competing. Apart from the Tigers, there are the Pune Jaguars, the Mumbai Leon Army, Finecab Hyderabad Strikers, Chennai Stallions, the Gujarat Panthers, the Delhi Bliny’s League, and the Bengaluru Spartans.
Each team will feature a top-ten-ranked Indian player in every category, and has been assigned a mentor, a coach, and a nutritionist to ensure that they are in the best possible condition to compete.
This year the teams will also feature wheelchair players. To add to the glamour, well-known celebrities will also be attending matches.
This year’s event begins in Mumbai on 23 December.
Now 50, Ivanisevic is currently working with world number one, Novak Djokovic. He has previously coached compatriot Marin Cilic to Grand Slam success at the US Open in 2014.
Known for his ferocious serve, he won 22 senior titles in his career, earning nearly USD 20 million in prize money.
Three times a beaten Wimbledon finalist, he finally lifted the trophy in 2001 in fairytale fashion. Ranked 125th in the world at the time after injury problems, he was granted a wildcard into the tournament and went all the way, eventually beating Australian Pat Rafter in five sets in the final.
Last year he was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame.