Sam Stosur and Flavia Pennetta Have Hope For Singapore

Written by: Staff on 19th December 2011

Sam Stosur and Flavia Pennetta Have Hope For Singapore

Samantha Stosur of Australia celebrates aftter she defeated Na Li of China during their at the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey on 28 October 2011. EPA/TOLGA BOZOGLU |

WTA players Samantha Stosur and Flavia Pennetta liked what they saw at a weekend exhibition in Singapore, and would happily try to come back and compete were the prosperous city-state to secure a Tour event for 2012.

That’s the goal for local organizers, who held talks with the WTA about trying to get the city back onto the calendar after an absence of almost two decades.

The pre-Christmas exhibition was a testing of the water, with the WTA big names impressed by the ultra-modern, first-world metropolis perched between Malaysia (home of an ATP event) and Indonesia (whose Bali event ended the WTA season for the last few years).

“It’s my first time in Singapore and I was surprised,” Pennetta told the Straits Times. “I didn’t expect a city like this. I think it’s a place I could live in.”

US Open champion Stosur added her support for a possible future WTA stop. “Tennis is obviously booming in Asia, especially with the Chinese players. If they can get an event here, I’m sure it will be well-supported. Depending on my schedule, I could come, I’d really like to.”

Pennetta won the exhibition title over Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska, another player who was impressed with what she saw in Singapore.

Topics: Flavia Pennetta, Samantha Stosur