Cameron Norrie in action during the final of the Hong Kong International Tennis Challenge at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay on Christmas Day. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
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https://scmp.com/sport/tennis/article/3205490/wta-brings-hong-kong-open-back-adds-six-events-mainland-china-2023-schedule Tennis
Hong Kong Open bosses target world’s best, after tournament included on provisional WTA schedule
- New schedule has Hong Kong Open taking place between October 14 and 23
- Women’s Tennis Association event set to return to city for first time since 2018
The Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova in action during her second round match against Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi at the Adelaide International. Photo: Reuters
Women’s professional tennis is expected to return to Hong Kong in 2023, and organisers said they would invite the world’s best to a tournament that has been graced by the likes of Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka in previous years.
The city has been listed on a provisional WTA schedule for the year, with the Hong Kong Open pencilled in for between October 14 and 23.
Cancelled in 2019 because of the political unrest in the city, the Hong Kong Open was then left off the schedule in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
On the back of the successful Hong Kong International Tennis Challenge over Christmas, which saw the return of a men’s exhibition tournament for the first time in 20 years, Hong Kong tennis chief Philip Mok Kwan-yat said he would invite top players for the city’s WTA250 event.
“Once the WTA confirms the calendar, I’ll start inviting some of the ‘big names’ to come,” Mok said. “We did that in previous editions, and as you can see, the packed stadium was filled with fans.”
The high-profile WTA International Series event, now a WTA250 one, restarted in September 2014, and was named the WTA International Tournament of the Year four years later.
Previous editions have seen the likes of Williams, Jenlena Jankovic, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniak, among the former world No 1s to play in the city.
Naomi Osaka, who has won four Grand Slam titles, the most recent of which was the Australian Open in 2021, was invited to compete in 2017 and 2018. Despite withdrawing because of a back injury in 2018, she still travelled to Hong Kong to meet with local fans, pose for photos, and sign autographs.
“To be honest, we had intended to upgrade the tournament to a high level [WTA500] after 2018, because the feedback is really encouraging, and top players enjoyed their stay in Hong Kong, but given what happened in the year following [political unrest] and the pandemic [we couldn’t],” Mok said.
“As we’ve just returned to normal, we’ll stick with the same level this year. If the feedback is good, we’ll see if we can make the upgrade next year.”
Hong Kong women’s No 1 Eudice Chong still remembers her first Hong Kong Open in 2016, where beat a higher-ranked Japanese player Shuko Aoyama, the Grand Slam doubles semi-finalist, after being handed a wild card.
“It was an unforgettable experience because I was still studying in the United States [at Wesleyan University],” Chong, the current world No 214, said. “I had no second thoughts and saw myself getting on a plane the next day and playing in the qualifiers for the Hong Kong Open.”
Chong eventually lost in the second round of qualifiers in 2016, but she received a wild card to the main draw of the singles and doubles two years later, where she lost in the first round of both.
“We don’t have much opportunity to compete before the home crowd, but I really hope the Hong Kong Open returns this year,” the 26-year-old said. “Having fans cheering for us is always encouraging.”
Chong, who has reached this year’s Australian Open qualifiers for the first time, began her warm-up tournament in Canberra earlier this week, the W60 tournament in Australia, where she lost in three sets in the second round of the qualifiers to American Ashlyn Krueger.