Chance to see top women tennis stars up close

SINGAPORE - Those planning to catch the world's top female tennis stars in action at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in October, and want a VIP experience on top of that, can now have just that.

The World Sport Group (WSG), the promoter of the upcoming BNP Paribas Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Finals, launched a new premium hospitality programme for tennis fans here on Saturday.

The Racquet Club, as the programme is called, is also the name of a double-storey, glass-fronted pavilion to be built just a stone's throw from the Indoor Stadium.

The bespoke luxury facility will have a private drop-off lobby that welcomes arriving clients, who will enjoy international cuisine and a free flow of champagne, wine and beer.

Besides getting to mingle with the players in the 3,000 sq m pavilion, club members will have access to the reserved seats on the baseline of Centre Court at the Indoor Stadium to watch the matches.

During the games, which will take place over 11 sessions from Oct 20 to 26, they will have exclusive access to the open bar at the nearby Aces Lounge.

The cost of such an experience starts at $795 per person for each of the first four sessions. There is also an option to buy the entire "championship" package - all 11 sessions, including the grand final, for $6,950.

Those with deeper pockets can opt to get 50 of these championship packages. This comes with a private suite at the Racquet Club, with the opportunity to brand the space.

Fans who book a set of 10 packages will get a dedicated table at the pavilion with the option to include branded table signage.

A five-week-long early-bird period that starts today and lasts until the end of June offers fans a 7 per cent discount on all the hospitality packages, said the Singapore-based WSG.

The plan is to offer the Racquet Club hospitality package for each of the five years the tournament is held here, all the way until 2018.

This is the first time that Singapore - or any Asia-Pacific country - is hosting the WTA's prestigious season-ending competition, presented by local luxury property developer SC Global Developments.

The top eight singles players and top eight doubles teams are now busy racking up enough qualifying points in various tournaments to make it to the season finale in Singapore, where a record prize purse of US$6.5 million (S$8 million) will be up for grabs.

This article by The Business Times was published in MyPaper, a free, bilingual newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.

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