Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open: event has come a long way, WTA’s Clare Wood says

Former British No 1 says she had seen improvements in organisation and facilities 'as soon as she arrived' to oversee event for second time.

Women's tennis world governing body officials have nothing but praise for the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open as the city embraces its second WTA 250 event in as many years.

The nine-day tournament, which kicked off on Saturday with qualifiers and with main draw action to start on Monday, will crown a winner at Victoria Park Centre Court next Sunday.

Overseeing the Hong Kong tournament for the second time, Women's Tennis Association (WTA) supervisor Clare Wood said she had spotted improvements as soon as she arrived.

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"[Everything] is better laid out and arranged," said Wood, who began playing professionally in 1984 before retiring in 1998. "They've improved the gym facility for the players, and they have done a much better player lounge and dining area.

"The public village and the VIP area also look a lot more premium and have better facilities.

"My area is the competition, looking after the players and infrastructure ... the food choices and quality - you walk in there and you'll think, 'Oh, what shall I have today?'

Asked where she would rank the Hong Kong Open among the events in Asia, Wood said: "I wouldn't compare it with just Asian cities; I've travelled all over the world working the 125s, 250s, 500s and 1000s [tennis tournaments], and I can say this is a 250 that is right up there at the top end of what I've experienced in the world."

With most of the facilities at the venue not placed in the main building because of the limitations of the decades-old venue, which opened in 1982, Wood believed it would be "fantastic" if the organisers could make the facilities permanent.

"Every tournament and venue is completely different according to the space and budget you have, and in an ideal world, you'd have it all as permanent structures," she said. "But that could take time, and you also have to remember that this tournament happens once a year, so you've got to weigh up the investment.

"If they could improve and make it a more permanent facility, I think it would continue to increase the tournament's profile, and you would attract better players."

The Hong Kong Open was held four times between its 1980 debut and 1993, before resuming for five straight years in 2014 as a WTA International event. The event was reclassified as a WTA 250 event in 2021.

Over the years, seven WTA tournaments have seen their status upgraded to WTA 500, most of them taking more than 10 years to get there since they started.

The tournament that took the longest was the Internationaux de Strasbourg, which was upgraded only in May after debuting in 1987. The Ningbo Open took among the quickest times, upgraded earlier this month after being played only six times, including as a WTA 250 event in 2023.

Former British No 1 Wood also took time to praise the appointment of Li Na, a two-time grand slam champion, as the tournament director in Hong Kong, suggesting current players "like" such ideas.

"There's a different understanding about the needs of what the players want," the 56-year-old former player said. "Quite often, when I have some difficult scheduling decisions to make, or when there are players having to come back the next day after having played late the previous day, it helps having been a player to understand the situation.

"There's a good sort of expression that says, 'Once a player, always a player'; you have a different mentality and the players like to see somebody from their peer group still involved.

"And I think it's really helpful - it's great for the players to be giving back [to the game], and [their] just being here makes a difference."

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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