Getting fans involved

SINGAPORE — If attendance of the 2014 BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore is anything to go by, the year-end glamour event for the Women’s Tennis Association has certainly got its five-year run here off to a good start, with seats mostly filled for each of the session so far.

Organisers have also pulled out the stops to make the event inclusive for all Singaporeans, pricing tickets from as low as S$16.90 to a high of S$195.90 for a premium seat for tomorrow’s final, which sold out days ago.

At the box office yesterday, queues formed for the two sessions, with fans snapping up tickets even an hour before the 7.30pm evening session to catch Ana Ivanovic and Simona Halep, and the last of the doubles quarter-finals.

Outside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the party is free for those who want to enjoy a taste of the tennis hype, and a fan zone at the OCBC Square which is open from 11am to 8pm has proven popular with more than 10 booths providing interactive games and activities.

The StarHub Superspeed Serve booth looks to be the most well received, allowing anyone to pick up a tennis racket and hit a ball against the wall to reveal how fast he or she can serve.

Offering a pair of movie tickets to the day’s top two servers, with results shown on an LED wall, the current highest speed was recorded on Tuesday at 109kmh — not quite as fast as the 205kmh ball Serena Williams sent Eugenie Bouchard’s way on Thursday.

Kids are having fun hitting back balls launched from a tennis ball dispenser, and those who can complete five jumping jacks, a forehand serve, backhand serve and smash have earned themselves free isotonic drinks.

Said Raymond Lee, 37, who took leave from work to bring his daughter to the fan fest yesterday: “We have been here for two hours, and to the kids, it is like a huge tennis playground. We did not get tickets to any matches, but were just here to soak in the atmosphere.

“They get a little shy at first because they are not confident when holding a tennis racquet in front of so many people. Singaporeans are generally shy, but the friendly atmosphere here, with everyone game enough to try out (the activities), is really great.”

A huge social media wall in the middle of the fan zone also saw many fans using its touch screen surface to find out the biodata of the top eight women’s singles players in town, the current world rankings and even catch a virtual replay of the matches played.

“It is just the first year, but I am really glad the organisers made an effort to do these for the larger public, and not just interested in buying tickets,” said Nicholas Lam, 28, who has been to the Australia Open and Wimbledon.

“But there also many areas for improvement, which I am sure the organisers have noticed and will work on for future editions.”

Singapore-based company Retail Curators, the official merchandiser for the WTA Finals Singapore, has two booths set up selling towels, T-shirts, and Billie Jean King trophy pins among others.

Owner Gemmie Dayrit says she will look to increase the range of merchandise next year.

“We want to work more closely with WTA to have autographed merchandise on sale next year,” she said.

The Marah Carey concert at the National Stadium last night, held as part of the WTA Finals’ fringe, also drew about 10,000 spectators.