MUMBAI: Tennis Properties Limited (TPL) - the commercial arm of the Tennis Masters Series tournaments and the Tennis Masters Cup - has announced an extension of its broadcast rights pooling agreement with the nine Masters Series tournaments and the Tennis Masters Cup.

In India the tournamants air on ESPN Star Sports.

The three-year agreement will see TPL continue to act as the host broadcaster at each event from 2005 to 2007. Under the agreement, the nine-tournament series will be renamed as the ATP Masters Series, while the Tennis Masters Cup - jointly owned by the ITF, Grand Slams and ATP - will keep its current name. As a result of this agreement, the ATP Masters Series and the Tennis Masters Cup will be sold to television broadcasters around the world as a single series-wide package.

TPL MD Mark Webster was quoted in an official release saying, "The value of the ATP Masters Series and Tennis Masters Cup as a broadcast product is driven by our ability to offer broadcasters a complete package of rights, production and transmission. It is a formula that has worked successfully since we took over the rights from ISL in 2001 and we are looking forward to building on that success in the next three years."

The release adds that the Tennis Masters Cup has also successfully concluded negotiations with Lacoste to extend its partnership with the clothing company through to 2006. The company confirmed its commitment as the Official Clothing Sponsor of the Tennis Masters Cup for a three-year term.