Love playing in India: Martina Navartilova

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova acknowledges the crowd ahead of an exhibition match at the DLTA complex in New Delhi on Friday. — PTI

It was a evening to remember at the DLTA complex in the capital on Friday. The four stars — Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Martina Navartilova — took to the court for an exhibition match ahead of the International Tennis Premier League’s Season Two, starting December 2.

But the showstopper of the evening was the 59-year-old martina Navratilova, on her first trip to the capital. The superfit legend, who has the same number of Grand Slam titles to her name as her age, was all praise for the country and her former mixed double partner Paes.

“I loved playing in India. People are warm and friendly. No doubt Paes is my favourite mixed doubles partner and I have heard a lot about this country from him,” said the ageless Navratilova, who has already played matches in Kolkata and Hyderabad.

As the onset of winter was in the air, the stadium was packed and people kept pouring in to watch their favourite stars in action. It was a vibrant atmosphere with foot-tapping music and hovering lights made the stadium more colourful.

Sania, who last played here in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, was happy to be back. “The crowd is very supportive and this is one of my favourite places to play,” she said.

It was a dream year for the Hyderabad girl, who clinched 10 titles in 2015. She was excited to be playing in the second edition of the IPTL and hopeful of winning it again.

“I am excited to take part in Season Two of the IPTL. The event was a great success last year and I hope it will be bigger and better this time as well,” Sania, who turned out for Indian Aces in the IPTL, said.

“Winning 10 titles in a year is a dream season for me and hopefully I will be able to take this forward to 2016 as well.

“Right now I am focused on the IPTL. Once it is over, I will start thinking ahead and my preparations for the Olympics,” she added.

Happy to see Paes in IPTL: Mahesh Bhupathi The mastermind behind IPTL, Bhupathi was happy to rope in his estranged doubles partner Paes for the second edition. Paes missed the inaugural edition of the event as he was committed to another franchise-based league — Champions Tennis League.

“This time I made sure that Paes was part of the IPTL and got him earlier. Everyone wanted him. He is an entertainer and I felt the format suits Leander,” Bhupathi said.

Asked if there was any plan to take matches of the Indian Aces to other cities in the country, he said, “We have to see. There is only one IPTL team in the country and Delhi has the biggest tennis stadium and so as of now, the matches are held here. Every option will be explored in future.”