{"id":91458,"date":"2025-10-01T05:00:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=91458"},"modified":"2025-09-30T23:57:33","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T03:57:33","slug":"record-attendance-growth-of-tennis-asia-during-atp-wta-asian-swing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/10\/01\/record-attendance-growth-of-tennis-asia-during-atp-wta-asian-swing\/","title":{"rendered":"Record Attendance Underscores Growth of Tennis in Asia During ATP\/WTA Asian Swing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 ATP\/WTA Asian Swing has delivered more than just great tennis \u2014 it has produced record attendance figures and signaled tennis\u2019s 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\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<h2>ATP\/WTA Asian Swing Sees Record Crowds in 2025<\/h2>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2191427954\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2191427954?et=yANHGVVYS4d7MF4YS9iikQ&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=EOV750eo7verhKP70bBxO_R5xrpx3QinWqIMWRCOe24=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>&#8220;The week-long Japan Open, an ATP 500 event, set a new attendance record, drawing more than 120,000 fans for the first time&#8221;<\/em> read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olympics.com\/en\/news\/japan-open-2025-final-carlos-alcaraz-taylor-fritz\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">byline from Olympics.com<\/a> discussing Carlos Alcaraz\u2019s victory over Taylor Fritz in the final of the ATP Tokyo, Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chinadailyasia.com\/hk\/article\/620797\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">China Daily<\/a> reported that this year\u2019s 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/05\/06\/how-does-qinwen-zheng-rediscover-2024-form\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Zheng\u2019s elbow<\/a> is still healing and she was forced to retire after her second-round victory, her two matches in Beijing <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JJlovesTennis\/status\/1971949665789882536\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">packed the stadium<\/a> and electrified local fans.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this year, Hong Kong hosted an ATP event, the Bank of China Hong Kong Open, where organizers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennishk.org\/en\/news-detail\/atp-comback-en\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">announced more than 55,000 spectators<\/a> across the week.<\/p>\n<p>In Seoul, the WTA Korea Open nearly sold out for the final, with <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TennisAsia\/status\/1969776617909354704\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Iga Swiatek defeating Ekaterina Alexandrova<\/a> in front of a full house.<\/p>\n<p>Next up on the calendar is the ATP\u2019s marquee East Asian event, the Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000. Novak Djokovic <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SH_RolexMasters\/status\/1970523593655148845\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">headlines the draw<\/a> after <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/09\/30\/alcaraz-withdraws-shanghai-masters\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and several other stars withdrew due to fatigue and scheduling challenges. On the women\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<h3>WTA\u2019s Revenue Growth Hinges on Asian Market<\/h3>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2236908152\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 57.74411% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/2236908152?et=eOYJNR--TExhuUj9WvAEmg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=6AKbDXWDQePAqECg0Z44CJ9kIfOwmPcy45HlJGAuL9U=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"343\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>China now hosts a significant number of WTA tournaments. Despite a two-year absence from the calendar due to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/tennis\/2021\/12\/17\/womens-tennis-vs-china-peng-shuai-daily-cover\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Peng Shuai crisis<\/a>, the tour\u2019s return has proven to be a vital source of revenue growth. The WTA\u2019s media rights deal with Tencent and comments from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportspro.com\/insights\/features\/wta-tour-cvc-saudi-arabia-finals-atp-revenue-social-media-marina-storti\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">WTA Ventures CEO Marina Storti<\/a> underline that Asia remains central to the plan to triple WTA income within the decade.<\/p>\n<p>With global stars such as <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/12\/07\/coco-gauff-highest-paid-female-athlete\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Naomi Osaka<\/a> from Japan and Li Na as China\u2019s trailblazing Grand Slam champion, the Asian market has already produced household names. Rising talents like 21-year-old <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/08\/09\/aoi-ito-slices-and-spins-her-way-into-wta-top-100-with-cincinnati-breakthrough\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Aoi Ito<\/a> from Japan, show that the pipeline remains strong. The Chinese government has even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/sports\/tennis\/china-serves-plan-competitive-tennis-ecosystem-2025-08-20\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">committed to benchmark investments<\/a> to build a sustainable tennis ecosystem.<\/p>\n<h3>Smaller ATP and WTA Events Struggle for Global Relevance<\/h3>\n<p>While the Grand Slams and Masters events are thriving with record revenue, ticket sales, and <a href=\"https:\/\/racketone.com\/us-open-final-viewership-alcaraz-sinner-hits-decade-high-up-82-from-last-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">TV ratings<\/a>, 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\u2019 interest. To give context, the stadium for WTA Seoul, the Olympic Park Tennis Center, seats 10,000. The 2024 <a href=\"https:\/\/en.sportschosun.com\/sports\/2025\/03\/seoul-series-187-million-tokyo-series-25-57727\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MLB Seoul series drew crowds<\/a> of nearly 15,000 to see the Dodgers face the Padres, while 63,000 <a href=\"https:\/\/cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com\/2024\/7\/31\/24210457\/tottenham-hotspur-news-friendly-k-league-all-stars-ange-postecoglou-press-conference\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">came out to watch Premier League Club Tottenham Hotspur<\/a> face a K League All-star team. 72,550 came out to see the ASEAN all-stars <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manutd.com\/en\/news\/detail\/match-report-asean-all-stars-v-man-utd-28-may\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">take on Premier League side Manchester United<\/a> in a friendly played in Malaysia.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kobe Bryant\u2019s popularity in China during 2008 Olympics \ud83d\udc10\" width=\"540\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/c96NgZvYO2I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>That reality makes the Asian market\u2019s steady growth particularly important. Chinese fans are expected to fill the stadium in Shanghai to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/sport\/tennis\/article\/3211772\/djokovic-hails-rise-mens-tennis-china-says-its-important-game-likes-wu-yibing-do-well\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cheer for Djokovic<\/a>, while markets like India, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia present fresh opportunities if the ATP or WTA can establish a more <a href=\"https:\/\/scroll.in\/field\/1050627\/tennis-indias-only-atp-250-event-set-to-relocate-outside-the-country-as-punes-contract-ends\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sustained presence<\/a>. By contrast, the ATP\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/02\/14\/crowd-support-for-diego-schwartzman-at-argentina-open-shows-the-greatness-of-the-golden-swing\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Golden Swing in South America<\/a> and the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/07\/22\/shrinking-atp-wta-tour-calendar-us-open-series\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"> US Open Series<\/a> have seen reduced scale and impact.<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1179604645\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 66.66667% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/1179604645?et=B5kNCoiMRANBG1JVLLmxsg&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=CBiAoGuNmzIjkm4iHCTGo4cK8phUjEAz_y4Ekw_pRcU=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"396\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Still, the past month in Asia offered encouraging signs for pro tennis. Packed stadiums, strong attendance, and compelling storylines like Vietnamese-American <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/09\/30\/learner-tien-upsets-rise-of-atp-star\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">Learner Tien\u2019s run to the Beijing final<\/a> suggest that professional tennis is finding its footing in Asia \u2014 and fans are responding, with tennis stars being treated like rockstars whenever they are on the grounds of major tournaments across the region.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: <em>Imago Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 ATP\/WTA Asian Swing has delivered more than just great tennis \u2014 it has produced record attendance figures and signaled tennis\u2019s 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\u2019s future. ATP\/WTA [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1442,"featured_media":91460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,2,15913],"tags":[9964,2130,41792,265,2131,259,2124,3933,3858,16942,9010,3907,364,3906],"class_list":["post-91458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wta","category-atp","category-featured","category-opinion","tag-asian-tennis","tag-atp-beijing","tag-atp-hong-kong","tag-atp-shanghai","tag-atp-tokyo","tag-atp-tour","tag-china-open","tag-chinese-tennis","tag-japanese-tennis","tag-qinwen-zheng","tag-wta-beijing","tag-wta-seoul","tag-wta-tour","tag-wta-wuhan"],"modified_by":"Steen Kirby","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91461,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91458\/revisions\/91461"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}