The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced today that Chris Evert has been named the Legend Ambassador for the WTA Championships in Singapore. Evert will support and promote the “Road To Singapore”, a season-long campaign which will see the WTA stars through their journey from the beginning of the year to its culmination during the season-ending WTA Championships in Singapore. For the first time in the 44-year history of the WTA Championships, a city in Asia-Pacific will host the prestigious year-end event, which will take place duringOctober 17-26, 2014, and through 2018.
Chris Evert – Photo Credits: WTA
“The way I look at this ‘Ambassador’ title is that I want to be involved every inch of the way,” said Evert. “I love the fact that the Championships will take place in Singapore, an innovative and progressive city with amazing sporting prowess that will roll out the red carpet for the WTA stars. Singapore offers a terrific experience for tennis fans.”
“As one of the best to ever play women’s tennis, Chris was also a leader off court and was the President of the WTA for nine years. Chris’s love for the WTA and her dedication to the promotion and growth of women’s tennis has been unwavering and she was incredibly excited for women’s tennis when Singapore was announced as the new host city for the WTA Championships It will be a special honor to have this great Champion involved in helping us stage the best championships in our history and energizing children in Southeast Asia to play tennis and live a better life through sport,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.
Evert, who won the season-ending WTA Championships four times during her illustrious career, will be involved in promoting the Road To Singapore throughout the year. During the WTA Championships she will participate in community youth programs to inspire young girls to play sport in order to have a healthy body and to build their self esteem and confidence. She will also share her knowledge with the coaches from the region and the media, participate in the fan promotions and help network with corporate partners in-market .
The World Sport Group will host an official launch of the WTA Championships and “Road To Singapore” in market on January 27, 2014 during which WTA Chairman & CEO Stacey Allaster, Evert and another WTA star will kick off the Championships for local fans and commercial partners.
The WTA Championships was the most-watched WTA event of 2013, setting record broadcast and digital audience milestones with coverage in 170 countries via 50 broadcasters and 1,000 overall hours produced, which includes live matches, match replays, and player highlights. The 2013 WTA Championships set new records for fan engagement earning 15 million more fans across social media during the three years in Istanbul, with more than 150 million reached via #WTAChamps.
Singapore will become the ninth different city to host the WTA Championships following Boca Raton (1972-1973), Los Angeles (1974-1976, 2002-2005), Oakland (1978), New York City (1977, 1979-2000), Munich (2001), Madrid (2006-2007), Doha (2008-2010) and Istanbul (2011- 2013).