Singapore Promises To Be Good WTA Successor To Istanbul

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 28th October 2013

Singapore set to host the WTA Championshpis

Singapore Promises To Be Good WTA Successor To Istanbul

epa03691487 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) chief executive Stacey Allaster speaks during a press conference in Singapore, 08 May 2013. The WTA announced that Singapore will play host to its annual end-of-season tour championships for five years starting in 2014. EPA/STEPHEN MORRISON |

As the WTA waved a fond farewell to Istanbul after three years of staging the women’s tour’s year ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships at the Sinan Erdem Dome, optimism is abundant that the next five years in Singapore will see the event grow.

Singapore will become the ninth different city to host the WTA Championships following Boca Raton, Florida (1972-73), Los Angeles (1974-76, 2002-05), Oakland, California (1978), New York City (1977, 1979-2000), Munich (2001), Madrid (2006-07), Doha (2008-10) and Istanbul (2011-13).

“Turkey took us to this level, and now Singapore plans to take us to another level,” declared WTA chief executive Stacey Allaster as she welcomed a delegation from the sovereign city state in south-east Asia to a reception at the Istanbul tournament hotel.

Allaster, who flew back and forth from Turkey to New York and back last week, determined to please existing sponsors and maybe find some new ones, continued: “We have tremendous trust and respect; we like them.

“They are just an incredible nation that will use our Championships, our athletes, to once again inspire more little boys and girls to play our sport.”

Allaster mentioned five specific reasons why the WTA’s board of directors chose Singapore over other key candidates Monterrey, in Mexico, and China’s Tianjin.

Primarily the key was a big tournament to highlight the Asia/Pacific concept. There was also a confidence in Singapore’s ability to deliver a stunning show. World Sport Group (WSG), a subsidiary of Lagardere Unlimited, with support from the Singapore Sports Council and the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), represented Singapore for the winning bid.

Obviously the money was also good. The top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams will compete for record prize money of $6.5m (£4.2m). “It’s a record-breaker,” enthused Allaster.

The facility is also state of the art. The $US 1.3 billion Singapore Sports Hub, designed to seat 12,000 spectators, is a currently being constructed and promises to be one of the finest in the world, situated just ten minutes from the heart of the city and will provide a stage not just for top flight women’s tennis but also concerts and other entertainment during the week.

Other top sports events scheduled for the Singapore Sports Hub are the South-East Asia Games in 2015 and the Asian Masters Athletics the following year and Lim Yeck Yin, chief executive of the Singapore Sports Council maintains: “We see other Asian cities making their mark in world sport but our aim is to create a better, friendly and safer sports environment that the whole world will see and want to emulate.”

Yin, who earned a Master of Science diploma in management from the London Business School, explained: “In 2011 I spearheaded a plan called Live Better Through Sports which was designed to plot the future of sporting Singapore through to the year 2030. The WTA Championships is the kind of global event we want to grow and turn into something really special.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, Istanbul, los angeles, Munich, Singapore, Stacy Allaster, TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships, Tennis, Tennis News, Wta