Hong Kong to host new WTA tournament

HONG KONG - China's Hong Kong will host a new WTA tournament next year, which will be the first tennis tour event for Hong Kong to hold since more than a decade ago.

According to the organizers on Thursday, the week-long event will be held in Victoria Park in September next year, 12 years after the city last hosted the ATP Hong Kong Open in 2002.

Hong Kong Tennis Association, as the organizer, said it would be a major event on Hong Kong's sports calendar, because Hong Kong has never held a WTA tour event before.

Hong Kong's top-ranked female player Zhang Ling believed the tournament would be one of the highlights and a key focus for local tennis athletes in 2014.

The Hong Kong Tennis Classic, an exhibition match featuring some of the world's top players, was canceled in 2012 due to lack of sponsorship. The 2014 tournament will have a prize pot of 250,000 US dollars and include one top 10 player from the WTA singles rankings.