Hong Kong tennis chief Philip Mok Kwan-yat promised “more will come” including ATP and WTA events in 2023, in the wake of the city’s first sold-out men’s exhibition tournament in 20 years. The Hong Kong International Tennis Challenge, featuring three of the world’s top-15 players, returned last weekend, and Mok said fans would be treated to more big tournaments in the year ahead. “We have already started talks with different parties,” Mok told the Post. He said the Hong Kong Tennis Association had submitted applications to all tennis governing bodies and he was confident ranking tournaments would be reinstated on the local calendar. The Hong Kong Open, part of the WTA tour, was targeting an October return, despite a ban from the organisation on hosting events on the mainland and in Hong Kong over unresolved issues of tennis star Peng Shuai. “I’m still optimistic about it,” Mok said. “We’re negotiating right now, and the fourth quarter of the WTA calendar has not been released yet, so let’s see.” The Hong Kong Open, cancelled for the last three years due to political unrest in 2019, and Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021, was again cancelled this year due to Peng’s unresolved case. Peng vanished from public view last year after accusing former Communist Party official Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault. Her accusation was quickly scrubbed from the internet, and discussion of it is heavily censored. She later retracted her allegation but the WTA expressed concerns about her ability to speak freely. Wawrinka hails ‘fighter’ Coleman Wong after Christmas Eve cracker International Tennis Federation (ITF) events for both men and women will most likely return to Victoria Park in May or June, with the hope of staging some warm-up events for Hong Kong players for the Hangzhou Asian Games. “ITF is very important for tennis because it allows our elite players to perform their best in front of their home crowds and earn ranking points,” Mok said. “Our coming junior players benefit as well, as not all of them have the opportunity to compete against professional players at an international level.” Coleman Wong Chak-lam and Eudice Chong, both now ranked Hong Kong No 1, competed in the city’s most recent ITF events in January 2020, before the coronavirus outbreak. The 26-year-old Chong, who earned a spot for the Australian Open qualifiers after gaining enough points through ITF participation, said “home crowd support” was a confidence booster. “We all love to play at home, and we really enjoy people coming out to cheer for us; we rarely get this kind of support when we play overseas,” Chong said. With the success of the exhibition tournament over the weekend, which drew a full house of 3,700 spectators to see world No 10 Hubert Hurkacz beat Cameron Norrie, world No 14, in the final at the Victoria Park stadium, Mok said he was determined to bring more mega events to the city in 2023. “Without doubt, our very own rising star Coleman has shown to the world that he has the potential to compete on a global stage,” Mok said. “This experience will further strengthen his confidence, and we hope our players will shine in ranking tournaments as well.” Hong Kong has a long history of hosting men’s ranking tournaments, dating back to the Salem Open, played between 1973 and 1987 as part of the Grand Prix tour, and then from 1990 to 2002 as part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour, all of which took place in Victoria Park. “We considered all factors, including the calendar swing, the weather, and our players’ availability, and 2024 January is the most appropriate, and it is easy to attract more overseas players to climatize here before heading to the Australian Open,” Mok said.