New WTA Event to be Held in Zhuhai

The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced on October 8, 2014 that Zhuhai, China will host a new event – WTA Elite Trophy, which includes singles and doubles with prizes of USD 2.15 million. The event will be held for five consecutive years in Zhuhai Hengqin International Tennis Center from 2015 to 2019, and it will become an international women's tennis event of the third highest level in China, second only to China Open and Wuhan Open.     

Event: High-grade, high-score and first-class facilities

According to the official introduction, in 2015, Elite Trophy Zhuhai will replace the original Champions Tour. The event will be held starting on November 2, 2015 or the 44th week in the WTA calendar, closely following the Singapore WTA Finals.

The WTA Elite Trophy is mandatory; singles players ranking 9th – 19th in the world must participate. There are 700 championship points, with total prizes of USD 2.15 million. These prizes are the third highest among women’s tennis tournaments in China, after China Open and Wuhan Open.

Zhuhai Hengqin International Tennis Center features first-class facilities and its venue concept was designed by Populous, a global leader in tennis venue designs and has participated in the planning and designing of nine Summer and Winter Olympics since 1996 with major works including Transformation Wimbledon Center Court and overall planning for Melbourne Park - the Australian Open Tennis Tournament of the Grand Slam Tennis.

It is reported that the Zhuhai Hengqin International Tennis Center construction project covers a land area of about 148,000 square meters and total construction area of about 145,000 square meters. The planning includes two phases. The Phase I project will include the construction of one 5,000-seat central court, one 1,500-seat outdoor court, four 250-seat game courts and twelve outdoor training courts, in order to meet the tournament needs next year; the Phase II project will include the construction of 12,000-seat top venue as well as cultural exhibition area, indoor training center, athletes' apartment, supporting service center and other facilities.

WTA Chairman: Fans to Get the First-class Experience

To be dedicated to the promotion and development in the Asia-Pacific region has been a strategic focus of the WTA, and the newly added event in Zhuhai is the concrete practice of this strategy. WTA set up a Beijing office in 2008 and established a close partnership with the Chinese government and Chinese Tennis Association; subsequently, tennis developed rapidly in China, accompanied by the growth in fan base and sponsor contracts. In 2014, a total of 17 WTA events were held in the Asia-Pacific region.

“This brand-new event will usher in top players. Coupled with top venue and excellent location, the WTA Elite Trophy is bound to be a great success,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO, WTA. “We would like to extend our gratitude to the Zhuhai Municipal Government, Huafa Group and Ace Pro Group – APG for their efforts and foresight, based on which the fans will get a first-class experience. We will present women’s tennis and the beautiful city of Zhuhai to audiences around the globe through television broadcast and network platform.”

Currently, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Mr. Peter Johnston has been appointed as the Zhuhai Super Classic WTA tournament director. "Zhuhai is a spectacular city, and we are looking forward to the tournament held here." He said, Zhuhai's lineup will be very strong, both WTA superstars, and WTA rising stars.

Zhuhai: to Build A New Business Card for the City

WTA also ceremoniously introduce the beautiful Zhuhai to the world: Zhuhai is located in the south of China, near to Hong Kong and Macao; it was rated as “China’s most livable city” by the Chinese Academy last year.

Principal of the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai Preparatory Office said: “Zhuhai is honored to be hosting the WTA Elite Trophy from2015. We are deeply grateful for the trust and support of WTA, which has made our dream of joining the WTA family come true. Zhuhai people will warmly welcome the best women’s tennis players as well as tourists from around the world to come to this beautiful, romantic and vibrant city. Welcome to Zhuhai to experience our excellent facilities and outstanding services and feel the elegance of Zhuhai.”

Sporting event is a “world language” and an important name card to enhance the awareness and image of a city. In recent years, along with the strong emergence of Li Na and other Chinese tennis stars, tennis has an increasingly influence in China, and the international community also knows China better through tennis. Tennis is a sport that is both professional and elegant, the unique charm of which is favored by more and more people. The healthy, happy and civilized concept it contains fits the temperament of Zhuhai as a romantic city very much and its city ideal to “jointly build a beautiful city and enjoy the beautiful life”.

The WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, a high-grade event introduced by Zhuhai, is not only several games but also a comprehensive festival including sports events, tourism promotion, business negotiation and other activities. Hosting such international competition will effectively drive the development of high-end services and promote industrial restructuring. Zhuhai will build this event into a new name card following China Air Show and China International Circus Festival, which will form the effect of scale and brand to show to the world the international positioning and new image of opening-up of Zhuhai and Hengqin in high specification and high density, so that the world will pay more attention to Zhuhai and Hengqin, to enhance the soft strength of Zhuhai to participate in international competition and expand Zhuhai’s influence in opening-up.