ABSTRACT
The history of tennis is rich and goes back to ancient times, with its rapid development in England in the nineteenth century. Tennis used to be played on the grass lawns of England and was considered a luxurious way of passing the time for elite society. However, tennis has changed dramatically since its introduction globally as a competitive sport. It has spread to all the continents and is played in many countries. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour was created over the years and, as an international organization, its goal is to promote tennis throughout the world. In 2009, Stacey Allaster, the CEO of the WTA tour, decided to pursue the Asian market and created a “Road Map” to Asia, with the idea of bringing more top players to Asia after the US Open. Asia is a great place in which to develop tennis and attract new fans to the game. With the successes of Li Na, the fanbase grew, and more tournaments were added to the Asian calendar. The China Open became a mandatory event of the year. However, there are problems associated with the move of tennis into Asia as the number of top players’ withdrawals has increased. Many players believe that the added tournaments add more pressure to the already tight schedule.
