New office rides wave of popularity
By Zhao Rui (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-10 09:26

As China prepares to host one of the world's top women's tennis events next year, the WTA is trying to ride the wave of the sport's popularity here by opening its Asia-Pacific headquarters.

 

The office opened on Wednesday in Beijing and is spearheaded by the WTA Tour's chief operating officer David Shoemaker. It is professional women's tennis' third global office after its main headquarters in St Petersburg, Florida, and its European office in London.

"Our top goal is to help the China Open and Chinese tennis fully fulfill its potential, that's the motivation for us to establish the office here in Beijing," Shoemaker told China Daily.

"Combining one of the most significant events on the Tour with the stars of women's tennis along with the involvement of the Beijing government, the China Tennis Association and the Beijing Municipal Government, we have all the keys for success."

Tennis has become one of the most popular sports in China thanks to its quickly improving women's players. Zheng Jie, who teamed up with Yan Zi to win doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006, made it to the singles' semifinal last month at the All England Club, the best singles result for any Chinese player at a Grand Slam. And at next month's Olympics, six women's players and one men's player will compete.

The initiative to open an office in China is part of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's effort to grow and develop women's tennis in this country and across Asia. As part of the Tour's streamlined 2009 schedule, Beijing has been awarded one of four prestigious events, a nine-day tennis tournament featuring $4 million in prize money, equal to the men's ATP Masters Series event in Shanghai. The event will be mandatory for all players who qualify by ranking and will therefore hold the best women's tennis players to ever compete in China.

Other mandatory women's stops will be in Madrid, Miami and Indian Wells, California.

The streamlined WTA calendar will also include Asia-Pacific regional stops in Tokyo, Sydney, Doha and Dubai. The new Beijing office will guide marketing and promotions.

Shoemaker believes the event comes just at the right time.

"I think this is the best time to bring the tournament to Beijing," he said. "Women's tennis is in its best time now. The popularity has never been higher, the prize money is at the highest level.

"I'd like to see television viewing for women's tennis increase and racket sales grow. I'd love to see someday the women's world No 1 come from China. I cannot do it by myself but I would like to help Chinese girls achieve the goal."

Several initiatives will support this goal, including customizing the Tour's new global marketing campaign, creating regional media partnerships, developing a Chinese-language website and supporting national grassroots development programs. The Tour will work closely with China Open Limited, the China Tennis Association and the Beijing Municipal Government.

In addition to his current responsibilities overseeing the Tour's legal affairs and executive transactions, Shoemaker will be responsible for defining the strategy for women's tennis in Asia-Pacific, growing the Tour's presence in the region as well as assuming overall leadership of its Asia-Pacific staff.

Kirsten Fisher, vice-president of sales and marketing in the region, transferred from the Florida office and will spearhead the development of marketing and media activities in the region and will direct the enhancement of grassroots and promotional initiatives.

"We are not only interested in growing tennis from the professional level, we will also help grow the sport from grassroots level," Shoemaker said. "We will develop a series of grassroots events, and let tennis go into schools and communities."

Zhang Yabin, chairman of China Open Promotions Limited, said: "The China Open has been working with the WTA Tour for over four years. The new office, in addition to the 2009 upgraded China Open, shows the partnership growing to a higher, more influential level and truly building into a long-term relationship."