Professional tennis players Emma Raducanu from Britain and Wu Yibing from mainland China are the latest players announced to join the inaugural MGM Macau Tennis Masters invitational, which is slated to take place on December 2-3 at the Macao East Asian Games Dome.
The announcement was made during a press conference at MGM MACAU yesterday.
Raducanu, according to Wikipedia, won the women’s singles title in the 2021 US Open. Wu, meanwhile, was his country’s first player to win an Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) title, an MGM statement said yesterday.
The two players join the previously announced Swiss Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic, who is ranked at number 15 in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) rankings, and Americans Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe, who are ranked in the ATP rankings at number nine and 10 respectively. One more men’s player is set to be announced soon.
Speaking with reporters after the press conference, IMG Tennis Events’ Senior Vice President Luiz Carvalho said that the MGM Macau Tennis Masters was created as a new event for the “international” city, noting that the company thought it would be a good idea to bring tennis back to Macau. He added that the event will attract international tourists, as well as bring tennis back to the local community and tennis fans.
IMG has secured a three-year agreement for sports events with the integrated resort operator, Carvalho noted, hoping to develop the project in the region and turn it into something “bigger and better” in the future, and hopefully get “engagement from the various government entities and the fans in order to build something very special in Macau”.
Moreover, The Macau Post Daily asked if the event and its players could help spotlight the city’s ability to hold bigger tennis and sporting events. Carvalho noted: “Absolutely, this is the plan that we have”, adding that there was a “very high starting point” with the event, as it brings six top tennis players from around the world.
“We hope to develop it into something different, we don’t know exactly what. I think it would depend on how the event is received by the fans, by the government, by the local entities. I think the engagement of the people is going really to help develop this event into something different. Who knows, an ATP event and WTA event in the future. We’re certainly open to all the possibilities and we’re happy to help MGM as a partner for this event”, according to Carvalho.
The two-day event will comprise two men’s singles matches and one mixed doubles scheduled for December 2, while a women’s singles match and two men’s singles matches are slated for December 3, along with an evening awards ceremony.
Ticket sales will start from 12 noon on August 1. More details can be found on the event website.
IMG Tennis Events Senior Vice President Luiz Carvalho delivers a speech during yesterday’s press conference at MGM MACAU in Nape. – Photo: Rui Pastorin
