The Hong Kong, China Tennis Association (HKCTA) announced the debut of the Hong Kong Tennis Series, a dynamic new brand featuring three prestigious international tennis tournaments and creating a new platform for elevating the professional status of Hong Kong on the international tennis landscape.

The Hong Kong Tennis Series offers an exciting opportunity for the HKCTA to stage a diverse range of international tennis tournaments in Hong Kong, stimulating even greater public interest in the game and providing a major boost to its status as a leading sports, events and tourism destination.

The Series will also provide an important catalyst for the future development of both professional and grassroots players locally, providing Hong Kong players the chance to participate in international professional tournaments in front of local fans, alongside high-level international and mainland players.

The inaugural Hong Kong Tennis Series (HKTS) will kick-off with a new-to-Hong Kong WTA 125 tournament, a professional circuit aimed at developing future women’s tennis stars. The event is scheduled from 30 September to 6 October. The momentum continues with the longstanding WTA 250 tournament in late October, a showcase of world-class women’s tennis culminating in the highly anticipated ATP 250 event at the end of the year, featuring the global elite of the men’s game as the finale of the series.

“Hong Kong has the distinction of being only one of three cities in Asia aside from Beijing and Tokyo, to stage both an ATP and WTA Tour event,” explained Mr. Michael Cheng, President of the HKCTA. “The introduction of a WTA 125 event to Hong Kong this year provides an exciting new competitive opportunity for our elite local women players, along with other ‘rising stars’ from mainland China, Asia and internationally.”

“The Hong Kong Tennis Series delivers a dynamic platform to grow the reputation of Hong Kong as a global destination for major international tennis and sporting events, adding to its obvious geographical accessibility, world-class infrastructure and vibrant nightlife that makes it so highly appealing to fans and tourists alike,” he said.

“The Series aims to stimulate even greater local interest in the game, exciting and inspiring fans new and old, whilst creating a supportive environment for the future development of home-grown talent. We are enormously grateful for the support from the government and our sponsors, along with the tireless efforts of all our HKCTA staff, in making its creation possible.”

In creating the Hong Kong Tennis Series, the HKCTA has worked to implement a range of organization-wide changes, while improving its capacity to host mega events, offering increased opportunities for synergistic cross-event sponsorships and delivering tennis fans new affordable experiences to enjoy both watching and engaging in the sport.

In hosting yearly successive international tournaments, the Series provides increased access and engagement opportunities with international tennis players along their coaching resources and other professional tennis officials, whilst providing tournament experience to further develop international-standards and professional career opportunities amongst homegrown coaches, trainers, sports executives and sport management to ensure a robust future for the game at all levels in Hong Kong.

Along with the appointment of specialized staff and the development and implementation of new strategic planning, including the reinforcement of the HKCTA’s domestic and international tennis network, the HKCTA has also secured the services of Mr. Peter Johnston, a renowned expert in managing high-profile professional tennis tournaments, as Director of International Events. He will be responsible for leading the HKCTA’s international tennis team and overseeing international events and related tournament operations, along with the Association’s tour technical expertise, commercial strategy, professional development advisory and international liaison.

Players Field for WTA 125

The WTA 125 event, which provides an important springboard for the next-generation of women’s players to the elite levels of the game (including WTA 250), will feature a highly competitive field, with mainland China’s former women’s No. 1 Wang Qiang and two-time Grand Slam champion in women’s doubles, Zhang Shuai set to compete alongside other up-and-coming stars.

Defending Champions return and Grand Slam Champion joins the 250 Tours

The 250-level events will also boast impressive lineups, with defending champions, Leylah Fernandez (WTA 250) and Andrey Rublev (ATP 250) set to return and defend their titles. They will be joined by a roster of star players, including former US Grand Slam champion Emma Raducanu; silver medallist of the mixed doubles at the Paris 2024 Olympics Wang Xinyu, China’s young talents Yuan Yue and Wang Xiyu, as well as Hong Kong’s very own Eudice Chong and Cody Wong.

Team Hong Kong, China spearheads development of HK Tennis

Excitingly, a host of Team Hong Kong, China players and Billie Jean King Cup promotion winning teammates, including Tiffany Wu, Maggie Ng, Justine Leong along with Eudice and Cody, will feature in the inaugural Hong Kong WTA 125 event, highlighting the importance of the new Hong Kong Tennis Series for the development of local players.

“The HKCTA’s commitment to bringing international expertise and leading tournaments to Hong Kong offers our home-grown players invaluable experience and the opportunity to hone their skills against leading professionals,” said Mr Oscar Chow, Honourary Secretary of the HKCTA and Chairman of Hong Kong Tennis Open Steering Committee. “The Association is also supporting the development of local players in creating opportunities to compete in events both regionally and internationally and in working with training academies and coaches worldwide. These exciting initiatives have the additional benefit of fostering a dynamic environment for the further development of professional tennis and sports management talent, in supporting what is an exciting future for sport in Hong Kong.”

Hong Kong tennis fans can look forward to a thrilling Hong Kong Tennis Series calendar, all taking place at the iconic Victoria Park Tennis Stadium. The WTA 125 tournament will commence on 30 September to 6 October, followed by the WTA 250 event from 26 October to 3 November, and the ATP 250 tournament rounding out the year from 29 December to 5 January, 2025.