Dreyer said the WTA may have had more leverage, pointing to how COVID-19 had already forced the sports industry to find alternatives to China.
“The WTA had continued around the world, so they’ve got replacement tournaments,” he argued.
While not as lucrative, “they were not in a disastrous situation where they desperately had to come back to China or else they would fold”.
But the WTA told the BBC that the “great majority” of players were in support of going back to China.
World number five Caroline Garcia called the return “very important”.
INCREASING POPULARITY
Aside from the huge sums currently up for grabs in China, the country is also crucial to the WTA’s blueprint for the future.
“China rapidly became the centre of the WTA’s plans for growth” after Li Na became the country’s first Grand Slam champion in 2011, wrote The Guardian’s tennis reporter Tumaini Carayol.
And the influx of money and interest in the sport was welcomed by athletes.
When the Shenzhen deal was announced, Maria Sharapova said the championship was heading to a place “that’s willing to invest in women’s tennis”.
According to the International Tennis Federation, in 2021 there were 50,000 tennis courts in China and 20 million players, the latter second only to the United States.
“There are five Chinese women in the top 60, which is really a lot,” said Dreyer.
“There are one or two who really have the potential to be Grand Slam winners in the future, which is going to put tennis very much front and centre (in China) again.”
At bustling tennis courts in Shanghai on Friday morning, the WTA return was greeted positively.
“There are more tennis players now than before, especially women,” said a 41-year-old amateur player named Su.
“So there will be more people who will want to watch.”
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