THE inaugural International Premier Tennis League comes to its conclusion at the end of this week but is just another example of sports stars following the gravy train, says Luke Summers.

The competition, which compromises franchises from New Dehli, Manila, Dubai and Singapore, launched in November with a number of high-profile players auctioned off in a bidding process akin to cricket’s IPL.

Backed by Coca-Cola and Qatar Airways, a number of new rules have been introduced to revolutionise the game, including a 20-second shot clock for serves, the abolition of deuce points and the addition of a ‘happiness powerpoint’ each set where a point counts for double.

Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams are all on board and are estimated to pocket about a million dollars each, which few could turn down for a couple of weeks of trivial competition.

With no ranking points on offer or any kind of prestige for the winner, players are unlikely to take the event too seriously and it could be seen as another gimmick to boost the sport’s global appeal.

The worry is that players could risk injury or burn-out by continuing to play during their only rest period with the tennis calendar already taking up 11 months of the year.

John McEnroe recently implored Murray to take a break after his comprehensive defeat to Federer in London last month and you only have to look at the recent history of Rafael Nadal or Juan Martin Del Potro to see the physical stress tennis players put themselves under.

The sporting landscape has been unashamedly shaped by money in recent times and it begs the question — is this the direction we want our sports to take?

Reduced to meaningless exhibition matches featuring all the stars with music and dancing but no real competitive element or glory. Unfortunately for fans, we won’t be given a say.