We have heard it many times before, in many different contexts, but in the world of tennis, the day might not be far when all those prophecies about the “sleeping giant” awakening come true.
The sleeping giant, in this instance, is the huge continent of Asia, home to nearly 4.5 billion of the world’s 7 billion population, and every sport, from football to Formula One, has been trying to gently nudge her out of slumber’s domain.
Tennis is no exception.
The sport’s pivot towards Asia is becoming increasingly overt. In 1993, when Dubai hosted its first ATP Tour event, there were 12 ATP Tour events in Asia, but all of them, save two, were World Series, or what we now call 250 events, and the top stars seldom showed up.
The WTA had 10 events in Asia that year — five of them in Japan alone — and, like the ATP, virtually all of those were minor Tier IV, US$100,000 (Dh367,315) tournaments.
This year, Asia will host eight ATP tournaments, but three of them are ATP World Tour 500 events and one — Shanghai — is a Masters.
On the WTA side, Singapore (WTA Finals) and Zhuhai (WTA Elite Trophy) will host the two year-ending championships, and those are just two of the 17 tournaments to be held in Asia. Two of these events are Premier (Dubai and Tokyo), two are Premier 5 (Doha and Wuhan) and one is a Premier Mandatory (China Open).
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The success of China’s Li Na has a lot to do with this tilt towards Asia, and China in particular, but the rise of the likes of Nick Kyrgios, a Malaysian-Greek from Australia, and South Korean teenager Hyeon Chung on the men’s side has also got the ATP excited.
“They are inspiring other people,” said Alison Lee, the executive vice president of the ATP’s International Group, which oversees the ATP’s business affairs in Australia, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Africa.
“Nick is inspiring a lot of other kids to play. He has opened up a whole new demographic. Little kids are coming to tournaments and asking for Nick. He’s so cool to them. So people like Nick and Chung are so inspiring.
“Younger people in the region want to step up following them. I remember Michael Chang when he stepped up, there were so many Chinese who identified with him and they said that he showed us that we could do it.”
Chang is an American of Asian origins — his mother was born in India, his father in China — who won the French Open in 1989 at the age of 17 years and four months, the youngest grand slam men’s champion. His success generated plenty of interest in the sport, but Asia is still waiting for her first major on the men’s side.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori came close, losing to Marin Cilic in the 2014 US Open final, and he could be Asia’s first major winner if he can stay injury free and focused. Lee, however, is more excited about events happening away from the spotlight.
Twenty years ago, in the first week of 1996, there was only one Asian — Japan’s Shuzo Matsuoka — in the ATP top 100. This week, there are eight. In the ITF Junior rankings, there are 15 boys from Asia in the top 100. South Korea’s Lee Duck-hee, 17, does not feature in these two lists, but he is highly regarded as well.
Lee, however, cautions against getting too excited.
“Things are improving,” she said. “But I always say, if we have 20 players from this region in the top 50, that will be the time when things will get really exciting for Asia.”
arizvi@thenational.ae
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