The 2025 ATP/WTA Asian Swing has delivered more than just great tennis — it has produced record attendance figures and signaled tennis’s rising profile in East Asia. With major tournaments in Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Seoul setting new milestones, the past month has shown how vital Asia has become to the sport’s future.
ATP/WTA Asian Swing Sees Record Crowds in 2025
“The week-long Japan Open, an ATP 500 event, set a new attendance record, drawing more than 120,000 fans for the first time” read the byline from Olympics.com discussing Carlos Alcaraz’s victory over Taylor Fritz in the final of the ATP Tokyo, Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.
China Daily reported that this year’s China Open has already set all-time highs in single-day attendance at 45,000. That surge came as 22-year-old former Australian Open finalist Qinwen Zheng returned to the WTA Tour in her home country. While Zheng’s elbow is still healing and she was forced to retire after her second-round victory, her two matches in Beijing packed the stadium and electrified local fans.
Earlier this year, Hong Kong hosted an ATP event, the Bank of China Hong Kong Open, where organizers announced more than 55,000 spectators across the week.
In Seoul, the WTA Korea Open nearly sold out for the final, with Iga Swiatek defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova in front of a full house.
Next up on the calendar is the ATP’s marquee East Asian event, the Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000. Novak Djokovic headlines the draw after Carlos Alcaraz and several other stars withdrew due to fatigue and scheduling challenges. On the women’s side, the WTA remains in China and Japan through October, including a WTA 1000 in Wuhan, before closing the regular season with a stop in Chennai, India.
WTA’s Revenue Growth Hinges on Asian Market
China now hosts a significant number of WTA tournaments. Despite a two-year absence from the calendar due to the Peng Shuai crisis, the tour’s return has proven to be a vital source of revenue growth. The WTA’s media rights deal with Tencent and comments from WTA Ventures CEO Marina Storti underline that Asia remains central to the plan to triple WTA income within the decade.
With global stars such as Naomi Osaka from Japan and Li Na as China’s trailblazing Grand Slam champion, the Asian market has already produced household names. Rising talents like 21-year-old Aoi Ito from Japan, show that the pipeline remains strong. The Chinese government has even committed to benchmark investments to build a sustainable tennis ecosystem.
Smaller ATP and WTA Events Struggle for Global Relevance
While the Grand Slams and Masters events are thriving with record revenue, ticket sales, and TV ratings, many ATP 250s and even ATP 500s continue to fight for relevance. Without appearance fees or top stars like Osaka, Amanda Anisimova, Novak Djokovic, or Carlos Alcaraz, smaller events often struggle to capture attention. Globally, tennis remains behind football, the NFL, the NBA, and even baseball in the battle for sports fans’ interest. To give context, the stadium for WTA Seoul, the Olympic Park Tennis Center, seats 10,000. The 2024 MLB Seoul series drew crowds of nearly 15,000 to see the Dodgers face the Padres, while 63,000 came out to watch Premier League Club Tottenham Hotspur face a K League All-star team. 72,550 came out to see the ASEAN all-stars take on Premier League side Manchester United in a friendly played in Malaysia.
That reality makes the Asian market’s steady growth particularly important. Chinese fans are expected to fill the stadium in Shanghai to cheer for Djokovic, while markets like India, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia present fresh opportunities if the ATP or WTA can establish a more sustained presence. By contrast, the ATP’s Golden Swing in South America and the US Open Series have seen reduced scale and impact.
Still, the past month in Asia offered encouraging signs for pro tennis. Packed stadiums, strong attendance, and compelling storylines like Vietnamese-American Learner Tien’s run to the Beijing final suggest that professional tennis is finding its footing in Asia — and fans are responding, with tennis stars being treated like rockstars whenever they are on the grounds of major tournaments across the region.
Main Photo Credit: Imago Images
