Tennis champ Bhupathi: We've made a great decision by coming to Manila

MANILA, Philippines - The International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) is planning to hold more tournaments in the Philippines with the creation of the Manila Mavericks, currently a seven-man team composed of tennis legends and some of the best players of the sport today.

"Our format is sport entertainment and I think we've made a great decision by coming to Manila. The ticket sales have been very encouraging and we're looking forward to keeping it here for many years," 12-time Grand Slam champion Mahesh Bhupathi, managing director of IPTL told philstar.com in an interview.

The Manila Mavericks is a team composed of Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Carlos Moya, Kirsten Flipkens, Daniel Nestor and the Philippines's very own Treat Huey. They will battle it out on Friday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena against equally strong players like Pete Sampras from the Micromax Indian Aces, Serena Williams from the Singapore Slammers and Eugenie Bouchard from the UAE Royals.

Bhupathi, who played in Manila in 1991 and 1992 as as a junior, said the Philippines has a big following for not only sport, but for entertainment as well, making it an ideal venue for IPTL tournaments.

The former tennis doubles' World No. 1 said that although Filipinos are mostly interested in boxing and basketball, tennis has a good chance of making it big in the country, especially with the IPTL tournament being held here and in years to come.

"Filipino sports fans are in for a treat," he added.

Catch the rest of the interview below.