China Open Starts Friday in Beijing
Wednesday, 30th September 2009 ~ Maggie ~ Link ~ Comments (0)
World No. 1 player Dinara Safina arrives at the Beijing airport
International players coming to the IMG-produced event include Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick in the men's tournament, and Jelena Jankovic (who has a sponsorship deal with Chinese sports apparel maker Anta), Maria Sharapova and the Williams sisters on the women's side. China's top players—Zheng Jie, Li Na and Yan Zi--will be making a rare professional appearance in their home country.
Tickets are available through Emma Ticketmaster (book online here, or you could probably just go to the venue and get tickets for face value or less from the scalpers who always swarm events like this. Play begins Friday at the National Tennis Center, the same 17-court venue that hosted tennis at the 2008 Olympics.
The event's biggest sponsor is Mercedes-Benz, which also puts its name on a nation-wide youth development program called Swing for the Stars. There will be $4.5 million in prize money at stake for the women, $2.1 million for the men, for a total of $6.6 million, which tournament organizers declare a record purse for a tournament in Asia. A schedule (without actual game times, only days) is available here. The qualifying rounds will be held Friday, with the main draw kicking off the following day. The finals take place Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11. Ticket prices range from 60 yuan for cheap seats in the early rounds, to 2,000 yuan for the finals.
China Open 2009 (English Web site)
Related:
Mercedes Hooking Its Star to Tennis
Dinara Safina image: ChinaOpen.com
Tags: Beijing, IMG, tennis