Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Champion Matthew Ebden, becomes the most expensive player at Tennis Premier League Season 4

Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Champion Matthew Ebden, becomes the most expensive player at Tennis Premier League Season 4

The eight franchises have put their best foot forward, assembling strong and competitive squads, packed with exciting talent from all over the world, ahead of the fourth edition of the Tennis Premier League (TPL) at the player Auction held in Mumbai.  

Matthew Ebden, who is the 2022 Wimbledon Men’s Doubles Champion, was bought on as the marquee player for season four of the Tennis Premier League and was the most expensive pick up at the Auction. Despite stiff competition from other franchises for the signature of the grand slam winning Australian, he was picked up by Delhi Binny’s Brigade for ₹ 8.45 lakh due to smarts of their mentor Aditya Khanna. In addition to Matt Ebden, Delhi Binny’s Brigade picked up Sowjanya Bavisetti, an Indian tennis player who won 2 Gold and 1 silver medal in team and individual events, at the 13th South Asian Games for the price of ₹ 3.50 lakh. They also added Former India No.1 in the Juniors, Siddanth Banthia to their roster for the price of ₹ 1.50 lakh. 

Defending champions Finecab Hyderabad Strikers, picked up Conny Perrin of Switzerland who has been a Winner of 13 Singles titles and 23 doubles titles on the ITF Women’s circuit for the price of ₹ 4.10 lakh. They were quick to snap up Sriram Balaji, who has been a Winner of 50 doubles titles on the ITF Pro circuit, for a price of ₹ 6.05 lakh. The final player that the Finecab Hyderabad Strikers picked up at the Auction was Niki Poonacha, who is 2 Time National Tennis Champion and was picked up for ₹ 2.60 lakh. 

Leander Paes co-owned Mumbai Leon Army were decisive at the Auction as they quickly picked up the players they were targeting before the Auction. The Mumbai Leon Army signed Ramkumar Ramanathan, who is currently India No.1 in Men’s Singles and No. 2 in Men’s Doubles for the price of ₹ 6.70 lakh. Leander Paes’ Mumbai Leon Army added to their Indian contingent as they signed up Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, who won the Men’s Doubles at the Aircel Chennai Open back in 2017 for ₹ 2.60 lakh. Their roster was complete after the signing of the Winner of 12 career ITF Women titles, Valeriya Strakhova of Ukraine for the price of ₹ 4.45 lakh. 

The Indian tennis icon talked about the impact of the Tennis Premier League after the Auction as he said, “I am excited with the squads each team has assembled for the fourth season of the Tennis Premier League, all the squads look strong and are stacked with elite talent. I am sure this is going to be the most exhilarating TPL season yet, which is a true testament to the undying efforts of Kunal and Mrunal who have made sure the league keeps growing with each edition. The Tennis Premier League has already helped unearth gems of Indian Tennis. I feel this time around the Women’s players are going to make the difference for their teams.” 

Leander signed off by saying, “I am sure the stadium is going to be packed at the first match of the fourth season of the Tennis Premier League. I wish the best of luck to all of the franchises ahead of the new season.” 

The Chennai Stallions who are co-owned by Aditi Rao Hydari signed up two international stars at the Auction. Illya Marchenko, the Ukrainian tennis star that has had a career high single ranking of World No.49 was bought for ₹ 4.55 lakh by the Chennai Stallions. The Chennai outfit also made Russian tennis star Anastasia Gasanova the most expensive female player at the Auction as she was bought by Stallions for ₹ 6.90 lakh. The Russian who is a Winner of 6 Singles titles and 3 Doubles titles on the ITF Women’s circuit will add a lot of quality to the Chennai Stallions. They signed up Anirudh Chandrasekar, who is fast becoming one of the rising stars of Indian tennis as he won his maiden title at the ITF $25K earlier this year for bargain at ₹2.10 lakh. 

The Bengaluru Spartans signed up only Indian players at the Auction for the fourth edition of the Tennis Premier League. They secured the prodigious Indian women tennis player, Karman Kaur Thandi for ₹6.55 lakh. Karman who was prolific in season three of the Tennis Premier League has even represented India at the Fed Cup. Vishnu Vardhan, who won the Silver and Bronze Medal at 2010 Asian Games was also signed up by the Bengaluru Spartans for ₹4.55 lakh. Their roster was completed with the signing of Sidharth Rawat, who won the All-India University Championships back in 2019, for the price of ₹1.55 lakh.