China’s growing influence over women’s tennis moved up a notch on Thursday when the southern metropolis of Shenzhen was announced as the new venue for the season-ending WTA Finals from 2019 to 2028.
Shenzhen, which already hosts a WTA tournament in early January, will take over from Singapore on the back of a bid which promised to build a new 12,000-seat downtown venue and double the prize money to US$14 million.
The top eight women and doubles pairings compete in the tournament, which has run in various guises since 1972 but has always sat well below the four grand slams in terms of prestige.
Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki is the current WTA Finals champion. Photo: AP
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“It gives me great pleasure to announce that the dynamic city of Shenzhen has been chosen to host the WTA Finals, the WTA’s crown jewel season finale, for the next decade,” the tour’s chairman Steve Simon said in a statement.
“This will easily be the largest and most significant WTA Finals deal in the 45 years since the WTA was founded and promises to take the event to a spectacular new level.”
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Singapore, which started its five-year deal to host the Finals in 2014, Manchester, Prague and St Petersburg all made bids to host the tournament but Shenzhen’s offer to double the prize money would have been difficult to ignore.
Singapore will continue to host the WTA Finals until next season. Photo: Xinhua
