The relatively unknown city of Zhuhai, located on the southern coast of Guangdong province in China close to Macau and Hongkong and according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences the most livable city in China, is growing and by growing we are talking about a totally new level.

The best possible example for Zhuhai´s growth and potential to move a step closer to the biggest cities like Shanghai or Beijing is the new International Tennis Centre which will host the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai in November 2015. The first stage of the Centre´s development including 5’000 seats and 5 other match courts including a 1’000 seat court and 12 training courts will be completed by September 2015. This enormous $84  million construction will set a new benchmark for China because of its complexity and for Zhuhai because the city will gain worldwide attention.

The first event, announced by the Women´s Tennis Association (WTA), will be held in November 2015 and will repeat annually until 2019. The new tournament will be called WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai which is a singles and doubles competition offering $2.15 million in prize money. According to WTA Chairman & CEO Stacey Allaster:“This brand new event combining great players, a fantastic new stadium, and the magnificent location of Zhuhai is a formula that will make the WTA Elite Trophy a success”.

According to Lydia Long, Zhuhai Vice Major, the city is deeply grateful for making Zhuhai´s dream of joining the WTA family come true. Zhuhai is a beautiful, romantic and dynamic city which is more than happy to warmly welcome the best woman tennis players and tourists from all over the world in order to experience the greatness of Zhuhai themselves.

The Tennis Centre is designed by global sports architects Populous which is a global collective of architects, designers, technical experts and industry veterans. Their aim is to create places where millions of people unite. The firm is also well-known for designing the Wimbledon Centre Court´s moving roof and the recently completed Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne. To win the Zhuhai Tennis Centre Populous took part and won a high profile international competition.

Written by Kevin Kowalczyk | Intern at InternChina

Sources:

Populous: https://populous.com/news/2014/11/13/global-architects-populous-design-chinas-new-international-tennis-centre-at-zhuhai/

WTA: https://www.wtatennis.com/news/article/4202219/title/wta-elite-trophy-to-debut-in-zhuhai