Opinion | Why Hong Kong Tennis Open must build on a good start
Promising aspects emerge from new tournament, but WTA has a critical role in making sure the event becomes bigger and better
Michael Jackson croons over the sound system and advertisements telling you this particular Japanese brand of TV is better than others flash on the two giant screens on centre court at Victoria Park. In between changeovers, fans are kept "entertained" a la the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens.
Welcome to the "new generation" of tennis, which is how tournament director Kenneth Low describes the Hong Kong Open, which draws to an end today.
No more is tennis a polite and staid game. Organisers realise they need to cater to the multitasking Snapchat generation who would get quickly bored even in the 90 seconds it takes for players to take a sip of water and draw their breath.
If we are to compete with the rest of Asia and the world, we need a bigger, more modern stadium
Things have definitely changed since we last saw a world-sanctioned tournament in Hong Kong. That was back in 2002 when the ATP had a presence. We have to go back even further to 1993 when a WTA event was last held.
A buzz has returned to Victoria Park. It has been great to see the fans flock to centre court as Hong Kong tennis takes a first ambitious step back to the glory days when we were spoilt for choice as we watched all the greats.
Kudos to the government for getting the ball rolling. If not for the US$2 million grant we would have never been able to buy the WTA licence.
But having bought it, it seemed as if Hong Kong was harshly treated when a player they had astutely pencilled in early - Canada's Eugenie Bouchard - pulled out.