ATP Hong Kong Tennis Open: Coleman Wong set to play in hometown event as tickets go on sale
- The 19-year-old rising Hong Kong star will be given a wild card for tournament, which is back at Victoria Park after 21-year absence
- Tennis chief Philip Mok remains tight-lipped on other potential entries, but says timing of event could help attract top stars
Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong Chak-lam will play his first ATP tournament when the top men’s tennis tour returns to the city at the end of December after a 21-year absence.
The city’s tennis chief Philip Mok Kwan-yat confirmed the 19-year-old’s inclusion to the Post after the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, which concluded on Sunday.
The Hong Kong, China Tennis Association will now turn its attention to hosting an ATP event for the first time since 2002, and fans have been given an early reason to start snapping up tickets, which go on sale on Wednesday.
The tennis chief remained tight-lipped on any potential star names set to light up Causeway Bay, but suggested the timing of the tournament could boost its field.
“We are not able to announce players yet, but we will soon. A lot of them are still under negotiation,” Mok said.
“It does help because it’s before the Australian Open, and Hong Kong being kind of on the way to Australia, people from North America and Europe will hopefully choose us as their stopping point before going there.”
Mok did confirm that 19-year-old rising star Wong will be given a wild card, however. The two-time junior doubles grand slam champion continues to go from strength to strength, and beat world No 98 Wu Yibing of China at the Asian Games last month for the biggest win of his career.
“Coleman will be playing,” Mok said. “Part of the reason we host these tournaments is to give opportunities through wild cards to our local players. Now we actually have a player who can play at this level. I’m not saying that he’s going to win, but he will be competitive.
“At the very least, it will be very much inspiring for Coleman to be able to compete in an ATP tournament and hopefully that will give him the impetus to boost his ranking.”
On a wider scale, Mok admitted Hong Kong’s players were still playing catch-up, with local stars Cody Wong Hong-yi and Eudice Chong both bounced out in the first round of the singles and doubles last week after being given wild cards.
“Definitely there is still a gap with Hong Kong players, but we are rising all the time,” Mok said. “If you look at Eudice’s and Cody’s ranking over the past two years, it’s always been on an upwards trajectory.
“We are hopeful that one day soon, Hong Kong players will be able to compete through their own merits in one of these WTA or ATP tournaments without a wild card.”
The Bank of China Kong Kong Tennis Open will take place from December 31 to January 7, with a total prize pool exceeding US$650,000.
Officials expect “high demand” for tickets, and have launched promotions with the tournament sponsor to enable fans to buy seats in advance at discount prices.
Tickets can be bought online through Hong Kong Ticketing with prices ranging from HK$240 to HK$1,460. There is a 25 per cent discount through the use of a BOC credit card, or the BOC Pay mobile app.
There is also a 15 per cent early-bird discount until the end of October, and a 10 per cent discount from November 1 to 30, through any other payment method.
Mok said officials were “very excited” for the return of the ATP tournament, with last December’s dry run at the Hong Kong International Tennis Challenge exhibition event helping to pave the way.
“We worked for several years to bring the ATP tournament to Hong Kong,” he said. “It’s not easy because there are only a fixed number of [ATP] licences issued. This particular one we got from Pune, in India. They decided to move it to Hong Kong.
“I think with the success of the women’s tournament since 2014, lots of spectators have been asking when will we get a men’s one, and finally we got it.”
