Women's Tennis Association Only 'Lukewarm' Over New Int'l Premier League

The Women’s Tennis Association "offered only lukewarm support" for the new Int'l Premier Tennis League, with some details "still sketchy even after the player draft," according to the AFP. WTA Asia-Pacific VP Melissa Pine, who is the tournament director of this year’s WTA Championships in Singapore, "also raised concerns over possible player burnout related to the new 'exhibition' event." Pine "remains unclear on aspects of the IPTL." Pine: "We’re really just reading about it as you are. We don’t have a lot of details on the IPTL." Asked whether the WTA was broadly supportive of the new initiative, Pine said: "We don’t really have a lot of details, but exhibitions can be good for tennis" (AFP, 3/11).