CHINA OPEN

October 11, 2026

Chen Jie

Zhang Bin

Zhang Junhui

Sun Baojie

Li Xuhua

Lars Graff

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, friends of the media, good afternoon. Welcome to the press conference room of the 2026 China Open. This is the last day of the 2026 China Open. The women's doubles final is ongoing.

We're going to have a press conference to talk about the highlighted numbers of the 2026 China Open.

The first item of our agenda is to have Mr. Chen Jie to present us the numbers of 2026 China Open.

CHEN JIE: Dear friends and colleagues, the 2026 China Open will come to a successful conclusion tonight. This year marks the 20th edition of the China Open. On behalf of the organizing committee, I would like to express our thanks to our friends of the media.

I will present the tournament information in six aspects.

First, the tournament was spectacular, the players praised the China Open.

There were many highlights this week. Over four weeks from September 13th to October 11th, it not only covered WTA 1000, ATP 500, ITF J300, but also MT 400 Masters, 2026 IMG Future Stars, child wild card students, wheelchair tennis tournament and the Fila Diamond Cup.

The total matches exceeded 1600. During the National Day holiday, the China Open became a grand carnival for tennis fans across the country.

The ATP, WTA professional courts were star-studded. A total of 215 athletes from 40 countries and regions gathered in Beijing, including 40 Chinese players.

Top players delivered 61 ATP matches and 162 WTA matches. Five of the ATP world top-10 players participated. Tennis legend Novak Djokovic returned to Beijing after 11 years and won his seventh China Open trophy on October 6th, maintaining an unbeaten record of 34 matches at the China Open.

The WTA courts were dazzling with Grand Slam champions such as Rybakina, Sabalenka and Swiatek, gathering at the China Open.

As of now, a total of 83 tiebreaks took place, an increase of 53% over last year. The longest men's and women's singles matches lasted 3 hours and 4 minutes, 3 hours and 12 minutes respectively, fully demonstrating a high level of competitive performance.

Chinese young players swept all titles except the boys doubles, demonstrating the potential of China's younger generation.

The China Open made players feel the warmth of China. China Open upheld oriental hospitality. The player area was expanded to 7700 square meters, 2.5 times larger than last year, reaching a Grand Slam standard.

A leisure garden was created, coach lounges and rehabilitation rooms were added. Outdoor warm-up areas expanded. Also an independently built information platform for vehicle scheduling was established.

Players said they felt as they returned home when coming to the China Open. Djokovic said, I feel like I'm playing at home. Beijing is the place where I receive the most support outside of Serbia, whether at the venue or the hotel, inside and outside the stadium. I'm deeply moved.

Zverev described the China Open as a world class event.

Mirra Andreeva said in an interview after her first-round match, I really enjoy playing in Beijing. I really hope I can play more matches at the China Open.

These genuine feelings from players are not only recognition of the quality of the event but also an interpretation of the China Open's unique China warmth.

Second, audience enthusiasm was high and the popularity of the China Open continued to rise. During the tournament visitor numbers remained high with multiple data points setting event records.

The total number of visitors to the tennis center is expected to exceed 450,000, a year-on-year increase of 25%.

Visitors from outside Beijing accounted for 60%. Overseas visitors nearly 10,000. For six consecutive days, single-day admissions exceeded 35,000. October 1st and 2nd both surpassed 40,000.

More than half of the sessions at the Lotus Court and eight of the 12 competition days at the Diamond Court were sold out.

A tennis season city carnival was created with more than 100 activities in the park, featuring world music concerts, international cultural festivals, technology experiences, and cultural exhibitions, providing audiences with rich leisure scenes and entertainment scenes.

The average length of stay for spectators increased significantly compared with previous years. On October 1st, the average stay was about four hours, a substantial year-on-year increase.

The event's popularity continued to amplify through all media communications. On October 1st, the CCTV prime time news broadcast the launch of the China Open. CCTV, Beijing TV and other channels broadcast key matches live, while Migu provided full live coverage.

As of now CCTV has broadcast 40 matches live with a cumulative duration of nearly 74 hours.

A total of 152 media outlets and 403 journalists attended the 2026 China Open.

As of now the total volume of information about the China Open exceeds 763,000 articles, including 53,000 reports by domestic mainstream media and 50,000 reports by international media.

^ on Weibo, China Open topics exceeded two billion with 703 trending topics. On RedNote there were 258,000 related posts with exposure exceeding 3.5 billion. Content such as Djokovic's return to the China Open and Zheng Qinwen provided multiple rounds of topics, letting the global world see the China Open and understand the China Open.

Third, promoting consumption through the event as an international level enhanced urban vitality. During the National Day holiday, the popularity of the China Open also accelerated its transformation into a driving force for urban consumption. Ticket revenue is expected to exceed 130 million, a year-on-year increase of 48%, setting a historical high.

Catering-wise, China Open had more than 70 locations, introduced more than 50 food brands and contained more than two thousand outdoor dining seats.

The event jointly developed more than 700 products with 18 enterprises covering trendy toys, cultural creative products and apparel, among which the China Open Zoo Series were widely praised.

In terms of sponsorship, 31 sponsors, including 10 new introduced and seven renewed.

According to the Beijing Sports Bureau, the 2026 China Open generated a direct economic impact of 2.59 billion Yuan and a direct impact of 6.6 billion Yuan. The event's popularity extended throughout the city, building a four-level integration, super live sites, business district interactions, cinema screens and theme supporting facilities. The super live sites were created at shopping outlets, the 798 Art District and the Water Cube, attracting nearly 1.2 million viewers, and driving consumption of more than 188 million Yuan.

The first broadcast covered more than more than 100 cinemas in 28 provinces. Government enterprise cooperation brought in more than 350 merchants to participate in ticket stub benefits.

Fan themed hotels and restaurants were launched for the first time. VIP building recorded sales of more than 500,000 Yuan.

Fourth, the smart event operations with cutting-edge technology safeguarding the tournament.

Video replay assisted officiating technology was applied for the first time, making it the first tournament in Asia to enable this system.

The Diamond Court added remote control camera positions for the first time, with total production scale reaching 23 camera positions, adding new shooting methods such as low angle, robot dogs and remote control.

The Court C enabled a lightweight remote production system for the first time, achieving real-time presentation, a multi-dimensional virtual data.

The Diamond Court evening session added a 3-D lighting projection show, displaying 10 match data points between sets, making it one of the tournaments with the most data displayed on the tour.

Network communications achieved three first-time breakthroughs. A cross-border barrier-free network was opened for the first time, achieving full wireless network coverage among all competition venues.

The international competition system and training courts was connected for the first time, achieving real-time push of training court match conditions.

A visitor flow heat data system was built for the first time, deploying AI customer service, security robots, allowing technology to bring a brand-new experience to the event.

Fifth, openness and integration highlighting the event's degree of internationalization.

During this event, we held the Global Tennis Dialogue Forum for the first time, moving from international alignment to active dialogue. The forum gathered nearly 40 management members from ATP, WTA, Grand Slam tournaments, conducting in-depth dialogue around event operations, player development, market expansion and global collaboration, demonstrating the China Open's platform value in connecting global resources and empowering urban development.

On September 28th, the 2027 Australian Open China launch event was held at the Lotus Court. The China Open and the Australian Open further deepened their partnership and promoted a popularization of tennis.

In addition, during this year's tournament, the China Open received senior officials from embassies of 10 countries, including Australia, Belgium, Colombia, Latvia, allowing more international guests to understand Beijing and experience Beijing through the China Open.

Emphasis was placed on integrating Chinese aesthetics and Beijing cultural elements. The player gala featured windows reflecting all things as its theme, inviting stars, event guests and partners to gather together. Interactive zones were set up, including wood block printing, Peking opera makeup, and kite making, showcasing Beijing's ancient capital culture and the modern metropolis complementing each other.

In addition, international tennis stars such as Djokovic, Auger-Aliassime, visited cultural landmarks such as the Drum Tower and the Summer Palace.

Sabalenka said in an interview, I really like Beijing, there's so many places worth seeing here.

Number six, moving toward goodness with youth promotion and public welfare practice continuously deepened.

On September 18th, 130 students from Fuping, Hebei Province, and Beijing Dandelion Middle School visited the tennis center to experience the first tennis lesson. Since the project was launched in 2022, it has reached more than 20 provinces and more than 200 schools across the country, promoting the extension of tennis toward teacher training and long-term training.

Greater attention was paid to the needs of special groups. During the tournament the China Open actively partnered with public welfare organizations to hold an activity for 15 students with autism.

For three consecutive years, it carried out the inclusive sports public welfare activity, opening tennis experience for more than 20 wheelchair users and launched Match Ball Blind Boxes with all proceeds donated to the China Open Public Welfare Fund.

We hope that through these sustained and concrete actions the joy and strength brought by tennis can be seen by more people.

Finally, once again, I would like to thank all friends who have been supporting the China Open. We look forward to seeing you again in 2027.

(Applause.)

THE MODERATOR: Thank you very much. I'm sure you are impressed by these achievements in the China Open 2026.

We'll go into the Q&A session. Questions, please.

Q. Mr. Graff, many players talked about this tournament. From your interaction with the players, what has been the latest feedback from the players on this tournament?

LARS GRAFF: It's been an extremely positive feedback from the players. I mean, Mr. Chen I think said it very well when he said that the China Open wants to have Grand Slam standards.

This starts already at the airport. The players are arriving 2:00 in the morning, 4:00 in the morning, and they are never left alone. There's always somebody picking them up. They get the car service to the hotel. This year we have a new hotel which is five minutes from the site, which was appreciated by the players. They don't like to sit in a car for a long time.

Then the improvements we did on the site in the players lounge, the players had a lot of activities there, not only eating and drinking, there were other activities they could do. They could also rest and watch other matches.

We get so much positive feedback. Now it's come to the stage where the players are coming and thanking us. In the past we were thanking the players coming to Beijing. Now they thank us because of all the things we have done.

It's very important for us every year to improve. No one is perfect. Not even China Open. We always get some recommendations from the WTA supervisors and ATP supervisors. Of course, we try to look at those recommendations and change things.

But the player feedback is overwhelming.

THE MODERATOR: We understand this is the 20th anniversary of the China Open, and this opens a new chapter of the China Open. We would like to say a special thank you to the WTA and ATP.

Thank you for attending.