Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page B2

October 10, 2016

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » Supplement » Tennis Masters Cup

Renovated court, free WiFi a treat for fans

By Ma Yue | October 10, 2016, Monday | Print Edition

IT’S that time of the year again and the world’s best ranked male tennis players have lined up at the Qizhong Tennis Center this week for the 2016 Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Shanghai is hosting the ATP 1000 event for the eighth straight year. Among other things this year, a playing court at the US$7,655,640-event has been renovated with organizers promising host of activities to get the fans involved.

“As one of the long-running events in the city, we have been working hard to improve the services for the fans as well as the courtside experience,” said Yang Yibin, vice general manager of Juss Event, the organizer.

Yang said one of the major tasks this year — and for future events — will be to raise the level of communication for the fans during the weeklong event.

“For one, the fans area and the dining pavilion will have free WiFi service this year. They will be guided to an online community, which we have especially built for the event, to communicate with each other or post pictures,” said Yang.

The center’s third court, known as the UnionPay Court, is ready for use after renovation this year. It has been equipped with Hawkeye and TV broadcasting facility and the organizers plan to schedule more top-level matches at this 2,500-seat court.

“The UnionPay Court has always been one of the fans’ favorite thanks to the short distance between the stands and the court itself. Fans will feel closer to the players,” Yang explained. “This year, fans will be charged 90 yuan (UD$13) to watch matches into the renovated court because of the limited seats, but we promise to arrange matches here involving big names to pay off the fans.”

Till last year, matches on the UnionPay Court were free for those holding Center Court tickets. But it would usually be doubles matches or matches with lower ranked players.

Also, a workshop will be held at the Qizhong Tennis Center this year where fans can see how the players’ rackets are stringed.

Unfortunately, this year’s event will be played without the much-loved Roger Federer, who enjoys a huge following here. The Swiss ended his season in July due to knee injury.

But defending champion Novak Djokovic is in Shanghai after being forced to pull out from the China Open in Beijing, also with injury.

“It is understandable that players tend to be bothered by injuries as the season is coming close to an end,” said Yang. “But the impact is limited and we are confident that the Shanghai Masters will maintain its quality.

“We have branded the tournament with our own character over the years. It’s a mature event that has cultivated a certain amount of mature fans in Shanghai,” said Yang.

The tournament will feature star names like Rafael Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, among others. Juan Martin del Potro will be competing at this year’s event after receiving a wildcard last month. The Argentine has been nicknamed “Big Pineapple” by Chinese fans as the pronunciation of his name is similar to the fruit’s intonation in Chinese.

The 27-year-old has struggled with wrist injuries for the past three years. But he came fighting back, losing to Andy Murray in the tennis final at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The other wildcard was given to Chinese player Li Zhe.

Shanghai Rolex Masters kicks off on the first working day after the National Day holiday this year. Yang said the schedule might affect the ticket sales of the first two days a bit, but there is always a big demand for the later part of the tournament, especially the semifinals and final, which are scheduled on the weekend.

“We have one more surprise for fans this year,” Yang told Shanghai Daily. “We built a small football pitch in Qizhong Tennis Center this year for players to warm up. A large number of the tennis players, especially those from European countries, are also football followers.

“They will be happy to show off their footwork to the fans.”

Yang said the organizers will get in touch with local football clubs and invite professional players to Qizhong to make the “star squad” even stronger.

“(SIPG’s) Dario Conca attends our event as a spectator very often. It will be fun to get him involved in our activities as well,” said Yang.

Tennis Masters Cup


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend