AFTER Andy Murray was humbled by Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals in London 10 days ago, he must have been relishing the chance to have a rest, mentally and physically.
His generosity and sense of duty saw him make a faster than expected return. Agreeing to take part in an exhibition session after the injured Federer pulled out of the final, meant the Scot was back in the swing of things sooner than anticipated.
Murray will begin his winter training camp in Miami early next month but first he has another obligation to fulfil, the International Premier Tennis League, a new competition that claims it will "change the face and format of the game".
The inaugural IPTL will begin in Manila in the Philippines on Friday.Murray will be decked out in the colours of the Manila Mavericks team as he plays three matches across the weekend before hot-footing it out of there and on to the United States.
Considering the world's top players have long argued for a shorter season, with fewer mandatory tournaments, the idea of staging another event in the off-season seems to be counter-intuitive. But the lure of the dollar usually removes those kind of concerns and the Murray camp insist this commitment will not detract from his rest or training.
Murray, who joins the likes of Federer, Novak Djokovic, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras in the competition, has been one of the more vocal supporters of the event, the brainchild of Mahesh Bhupathi, the Indian doubles star who was briefly part of Murray's management group.
The IPTL is designed to tap into the fanatical Asian supporter base and though ATP chief executive Chris Kermode recently dismissed it as: "a glorified series of exhibitions", Murray is looking forward to it.
"I think it is going to be different to exhibitions because I think the owners of the teams will want the players to play properly," Murray said. "They will want the players to play a high level and to try to win. They're obviously investing a lot of money in it."
A shot clock will be introduced to speed up play and there will be "power points" (where the next point counts double), "shoot-outs" (to replace tie-breaks), time-outs and live entertainment throughout.
Each rubber will consist of five sets, with a four-minute shoot-out should it get to 5-5. Each game counts as one point and the team with the most games at the end wins.
Rafael Nadal is the only one of the top players not in action as he recovers from injury and Murray expects the IPTL to be a success.
"I don't think people will get bored of it," he said. "It's not a hit-and-giggle."
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