Su segnalazione di @ale.

Su The Guardian un interessante articolo che riguarda l’IPTL (International Premier Tennis League), un evento a metà tra l’intrattenimento e il tennis vero e proprio. 21 campioni attuali e passati e una manciata di glorie locali si sfidano in un torneo di esibizione in alcune città tra le più importanti dell’Asia per portare il tennis anche in luoghi che con il tennis hanno sempre avuto poco a che fare.
Anche le regole sono diverse:

The format (one set of men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and legends’ singles) is also skewed towards men: Sharapova was the only woman who played for the Mavericks, who had five men in action. It feels like a wasted opportunity given tennis is one of the few sports where women match men in ratings.

The scoring changes, designed to make the game fresher, feel like unnecessary tampering with a classic recipe: the equivalent of adding brazilnuts to an apple crumble to make it stand out.

At deuce, there is no advantage, simply next point wins. At 5-5 there is a five-minute shootout to decide the set. Once during a set, players can opt for a happiness powerpoint – which as any middle manager could you tell you, sounds like a contradiction in terms – where the next point counts double. They add nothing.

Only one change truly works: a maximum 20 seconds between points, the last five seconds of which are sounded out by a ticking clock. You wonder how the injured Rafael Nadal would manage without the time to towel down and adjust his pants.

E c’è chi si chiede se questa sia davvero un’occasione per pubblicizzare il tennis o un modo per far fare una montagna di soldi (e una pessima figura ad uno degli sport più belli del mondo) a pochi fortunati.

 

Immgine da flickr