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YEAR-END
TOURNAMENT CIRCLES THE GLOBE
2002
Tennis Masters Cup bound for Shanghai
LONDON,
JULY 6 – Shanghai, China's largest city, will host the 2002
Tennis Masters Cup, the season-ending tournament co-owned by the
ATP, Grand Slams and the ITF. The eight best players of the year
will compete to win this prestigious title and potentially be
crowned World No.1.
The
2002 men's year-end finale will be the biggest professional sporting
event China has ever hosted.
"We
are thrilled to have our third Tennis Masters Cup in such a unique
city as Shanghai and feel privileged to be the first major individual
sport to bring its world championship to China," said Mark
Miles, CEO of the ATP.
"Our
goal, along with the Grand Slams and the ITF, was to share this
event on a rotating basis with the world's greatest cities. From
Lisbon last year, to Sydney this year and now Shanghai, it has
proven to be a truly global event.
"With
the help of the Grand Slam Development Fund, the ITF takes pride
in the work it has done to grow the game of tennis in China,"
said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti. "There is an enormous
enthusiasm for tennis in China and we feel the combination of
a great venue and top players will make the Tennis Masters Cup
in Shanghai a huge success."
The
bid for the Tennis Masters Cup comes from the Shanghai Administration
of Sport, with direct backing from the Shanghai Municipal Government
and the central government in Beijing, who are also a candidate
for the 2008 Olympic Games.
The
event will be held in November 2002 at the Shanghai New Expo Centre.
The
center, planned to house 15 convention halls, is a joint partnership
between the Shanghai Municipal Government and Messe, Hannover,
Munich and Dusseldorf. The fifth hall, due for completion in March
next year, will provide a 10,000+ seat venue to stage the Tennis
Masters Cup.
Shanghai
will be the third city to host the year-end finale, with the second
Tennis Masters Cup being held this November at the Sydney SuperDome
in
Australia. Shanghai has been the home of the very successful Heineken
Open for the past three years.
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