Tennis set to spur equal opportunity in China

A history major graduate of Harvard University is about to make a little piece of his own - history that is.

WTA president and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Larry Scott believes the 2009 arrival of top-level tennis - a Crown Jewel event - will spur mass social change for women, both on and off the court.

"I feel like we are making history in terms of what women's tennis can achieve in China and what the impact our sport can go and beyond the lines of the court," he said last week during the WTA Tier II China Open.

"We are trying to make tennis more than tennis.

"Our players stand for so much more. They have an opportunity to be the role models for women and young girls to show what kind of changes are possible in their lives."

Australian and Wimbledon doubles champion Zheng Jie has joined other Tour stars Venus Williams and Tatiana Golovin as promoters of gender equality in the Tour's partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Zheng will join a series of programs designed to promote gender equality at both a national and global level.

The Tour's power has already been seen in China, especially at last week's Open.

According to tournament organizers, the women's competition attracted 20 percent more fans than the men's event as Lindsay Davenport, who launched a remarkable comeback just three months after giving birth to her son Jagger, inspired female fans.

"The success of women's players is a very strong signal to other women in all walks of life in the world," Scott said.

"The image of tennis is fashionable and healthy - it is an inspirational sport for girls.

"So I am hoping this is a start of us being able to do more things in China, to use our players and sport to promote the fact that women have equal opportunity, so the barriers between genders could be broken."

It has already been a big year for women's tennis.

The French Open and Wimbledon joined the Australian and US Open championships in awarding equal prize money throughout all rounds to male and female competitors, and the WTA recently announced that prize money for its year-end Championships would match ATP Tour equivalents from next year.

"I'd say it is one of my proudest achievements," Scott said.

"We got the equality in pay at Grand Slam events, Wimbledon and Roland Garros, so 2007 is a historical year as we are breaking down barriers."

Beijing won the bid to host an elite WTA tournament in April, becoming one of four cities hosting elite events on a 20-tour top-level calendar in 2010.

The Olympic Green Tennis Center will be the home of the new WTA event.

Other mandatory women's stops will be in Madrid, Miami and Indian Wells, California.

And Scott has vowed to promote Beijing as a tennis hub.

"We want to make Beijing a true tennis capital in the world," he said. "When people think about tennis, they think about Beijing. The best players in the world will come here annually. Also we are calling Beijing our home."

After opening an office next year in Beijing, WTA will team up with the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) to promote the sport at all levels.

"Tennis is only a small sport in China," Scott said.

"I will take a long-term view, and work to build, build, build.

"We will bring the best of the best to the event, and also we will assist CTA to build great facilities, provide some good coaching and bring our expertise to them around the country."

Scott's career in tennis began as a professional player on the ATP circuit, where he played for three years and won one title.

Prior to joining the WTA, he spent more than a decade in leadership and senior management positions at the ATP, serving in the post of Chief Operating Officer.

He brought in the largest sponsorship in both women's sports and professional tennis, a six-year, $88-million landmark title sponsorship agreement with Sony Ericsson.

Scott also has attracted new major regional sponsors during his tenure.

(China Daily 09/25/2007 page22)