This year’s China Open and Rolex Masters Shanghai saw all-time attendance records of 360,000 and 250,000 spectators respectively, according to figures released by China’s tennis administrative centre. XINHUA
Without bright local stars, no problem: the booming Chinese tennis market has capped off a strong year, with tournament revenue and the sport’s popularity reaching new heights in 2025.
Despite injuries to the country’s top aces on the professional tours, tennis fever, sparked by Olympic success in 2024, has remained alive over the past season, driving public consumption in businesses related to tournament organizing, training and tourism to record numbers over the past year.
From September to November, nine tournaments on the men’s and women’s professional circuits were held in China, highlighted by the Beijing WTA1000 China Open and its equivalent, the ATP Masters in Shanghai, which attracted a large number of fans, media exposure and sponsorship interest during the autumn tour of China.
Combined revenue from the nine tournaments exceeded 1 billion yuan ($142.5 million) this year, with a record 250 million yuan in total ticket revenue, according to figures released Dec. 18 by the tennis administrative center of the General Administration of Sport of China.
With a brilliant cast of international stars, the two most important tournaments, the China Open and the Rolex Shanghai Masters, recorded historical attendance records, with 360,000 and 250,000 spectators, respectively. The surge in visitors during the week-long National Day holiday and the Mid-Autumn Festival made both events hot tourist destinations.
“The tournament has become an important driver of the vacation economy in Shanghai, far exceeding our expectations and objectives,” said Yang Yibin, president of Juss Sports, the company that organizes and promotes the Shanghai Masters.
Together, the nine tournaments generated total tourism revenue of 16 billion yuan in their host cities, benefiting catering, accommodation, tourism, exhibition and souvenir businesses, according to the tennis center.
This year’s China Open and Rolex Shanghai Masters recorded all-time attendance records of 360,000 and 250,000 spectators respectively, according to figures released by China’s tennis administrative centre. WEI XIAOHAO/CHINA DAILY
“Promoting the ‘China Swing’ brand, including all tournaments, has proven to be an important and successful initiative,” Ding Xianghua, deputy director of the center, said during a season review meeting last week.
“The statistics and analyzes are compelling, demonstrating the strong momentum of the China Swing and its positive impact on creating more growth opportunities for relevant companies.”
According to data released in April, China’s tennis population has surpassed 25 million, up 28% from 2021, while the total number of courts has increased to almost 54,000.
The growing interest in grassroots has led to a greater emergence of quality young talent, as evidenced by the impressive performances of Chinese prodigies in two recent international youth events held in Florida: the Orange Bowl tournament and the IMG Academy championship.
In the women’s under-18 category, 15-year-old Sun
Eight of the 25 juniors representing the Chinese Tennis Association in the two tournaments advanced to their respective individual finals, which constitutes reliable proof of the productive training of young people in the country in recent years, according to Bai Xilin, director of the tennis administrative center.
“This is a vivid image of the magnitude of our reserve talent. The depth of our youth ranks continues to grow,” Bai told Xinhua.
To better realize the potential of the sport, both from a talent development and commercial perspective, the WTA has added five new entry-level 125 category tournaments in China this year, lowering the threshold for more young players to become professionals and offering more marketing opportunities for potential business partners.
“We hope to create a stage for all emerging players to pursue their professional dreams,” said Helene He, WTA Asia-Pacific COO, in September. “We would also like to turn it into a sports entertainment event that benefits local tourism and cultural promotion.”
(Web editor: Zhou Yu, Zhao Jian)
