Grass-roots Champions Tennis League starts today

The CTL will feature young Indian players like Saketh Myneni (Punjab Marshalls), Ramkumar Ramanathan (Raipur Rangers), Sriram Balaji (Mumbai Tennis Masters), Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan (Hyderabad Aces), Vishnu Vardhan (V Chennai Warriors) and Divij Sharan (Nagpur Orangers). Speaking about the league, former tennis ace Vijay Amritraj said, “We have upcoming Indian players and more importantly two junior players who would learn a lot watching and playing alongside these top players," reported PTI.

CTL, which was launched last year, will not feature the Bangalore, Delhi and Pune teams from the first edition this time around. The league also lost two of its best players in Leander Paes and Agnieszka Radwanska to the cash-rich International Premier Tennis League (IPTL). CTL will have three new entrants this time in the form of Nagpur Orangers, V Chennai Warriors and Raipur Rangers. The league will also feature stars like Swiss legend Martina Hingis (Hyderabad Aces), former World No.1 Jelena Jankovic (Nagpur Orangers) of Serbia and US Open champion Flavia Penatta (Mumbai Masters) of Italy.

The inaugural edition of the league was won by Pune Marathas. The teams this time around have been divided into two zones where all teams play each other in a 'home and away' format. Mumbai, Punjab and Raipur are in Zone A, while Chennai, Hyderabad and Nagpur are in Zone B. The final of the Champions Tennis League will take place on December 6.