Stadium Scheduled for August Completion
The US$200 million state-of-the-art Qi Zhong (pronounced Chee-Jong) stadium will be completed in August 2005. The 15,000-seat stadium will incorporate many cutting edge technologies including those used to operate the eight-piece steel magnolia roof, which will take eight minutes to completely open or close.
The largest tennis facility in Asia is being built to stage Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai from 2005-2007. The state-of-the-art Qi Zhong Tennis Center is under construction on 80 acres in the Minghang district, 27 kilometers southwest of the city.
The centerpiece of the facility will be a dual-purpose indoor-outdoor 15,000-seat center court. The center court will utilize a high-tech roof in the shape of an eight-piece magnolia, Shanghai’s symbol. Unlike other stadium roofs, each piece of the magnolia will rotate to cover the court.
Asia’s largest tennis facility, which will feature 40 indoor and outdoor courts, is due for completion in May, 2005. The facility will also become home to Shanghai Ba-shi’s junior development program, which will be greatly expanded over the next two years.
The Qi Zhong Tennis Center will feature 85,000 square meters of construction, including the 30,000 square meter center court with the unique retractable roof system, soaring about 40 meters high. Center court will feature VIP seating, 150 media seats (60 with desks), 20 broadcasting rooms and two 4x10 meter video screens. There will be a VIP lounge, player lounge, conference room, locker rooms and media center.
Of the 40 courts, 18 will be outdoor, including 10 match courts.
Chinese Fans Love Federer
World No. 1 Roger Federer has been voted ‘Most Popular Player’ by Chinese Tennis Magazine. Federer finished ahead of Marat Safin and Andy Roddick in the poll that attracted more than 50,000 votes, cast via the internet and magazine and newspaper polls.
Federer thanked Asian fans for their support through a video message at the China Tennis Summit and Tennis Billboard Awards Ceremony. "Thank you very much for this award. It’s a big honor for me to receive this award from all the Chinese people. I’m looking forward to coming to China later this year."
Federer, who earlier in the year also won the ATPtennis.com Fans’ Favorite Award presented by RICOH, has endeared himself to Asian fans. Last year he devoted a day to media interviews in Hong Kong en route to the Thailand Open, where he ultimately claimed his 10th title of the 2004 season. Federer reached the semifinals of Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai in 2002 and, as the leader of the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race, looks likely to return to Shanghai in November for the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup.
Natural Born Winner
Winners are born, not made, and winning is the only thing Lleyton Hewitt understands. No path is too difficult; no mountain too high; no task too arduous for this player from Adelaide who won his first tournament at the age of 16 and went on to win the Tennis Masters Cup for the second consecutive year in Shanghai in 2002.
By beating Juan Carlos Ferrero from 1-3 down in the fifth, Hewitt not only defied medical logic by finding a reserve tank of physical energy few would have thought possible but he placed himself alongside the greatest players of the Open era. As a multiple winner of this year-end finale to one of sport's most grueling examinations of stamina and determination, Hewitt joined Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe and Pete Sampras in winning back-to-back titles while only Ilie Nastase in the seventies and Ivan Lendl a decade later have managed three in a row.
The most remarkable aspect of Hewitt's triumph was that the Australian was never at his best throughout a tumultuous week of wonderfully enthusiastic crowds and great tennis. Marat Safin, who beat him in the final of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris two weeks prior, nearly got him in the round-robin and then Roger Federer put him through three of the toughest sets imaginable in the semi-final.
Stamina, as Hewitt admitted the night before, was always going to be a factor in the final and, after running another marathon to win the first two sets 7-5, 7-5 against Ferrero, it seemed as if the tank had run dry. First serves were missed on a regular basis and backhands thudded into the net. Ferrero leveled by winning the third and fourth 6-2, 6-2 and many experts thought Hewitt was finished when the Spaniard earned a 3-1 lead in the fifth.
But it was then that Hewitt found his first serve and produced two love games out of three in between breaking back to get the set on level terms. Once that happened you could see the confidence drain from Ferrero's game. Hewitt's eyes grew wider as he focused on each service return and he was back on track - the only track he knows; the one that leads to the winner's circle.
