The Turkish Tennis Federation (TTF) is already pleased with how its preparations are going for the WTA Championships, which begin next Tuesday in Istanbul.
The local media are reporting that tickets for the final weekend at Sinan Erdem Dome are almost sold out.
TTF chairwoman Ayda Uluç noted that the event will be watched by 37 million viewers worldwide in 164 countries, while TTF vice chairman Cengiz Durmuş said that hosting the tournament for a first time last year was huge boost for the nation’s tennis participation.
“One week of WTA saves our year,” Durmuş said. “We had five or six thousand licensed tennis players last year. Now, we have 16,000 … I can say that Turkish tennis is catching up with the level of basketball and volleyball, in terms of public interest. Tennis is becoming a sport that is well known all over the country,” he said. “We have seen families turning their children to tennis, we saw kids flocking to tennis courts.”
©Daily Tennis News Wire
Topics: Istanbul tennis news, Sports, Tennis News, Turkish tennis federation, women tennis news, Wta Championships