Glasgow’s Emirates Arena is to host the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group semifinal between Great Britain and Australia on 18 – 20 September, the Lawn Tennis Association announced on Tuesday. 

“We are delighted that Glasgow has been selected to host the Aegon GB Davis Cup Team once again for the semi-final against Australia in September,” said Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events. 

“Scotland is the perfect stage for events and we are certain that fans from all across the country will turn out in force to show their support at the Emirates Arena.”

Andy Murray, who won both of his singles matches against USA at the Emirates Arena in March, said “It’s exciting for the team to be going back to Glasgow. It’s always special to play in front of a home crowd and we are fortunate to have played our last three ties at home.

“We had a unique atmosphere in Glasgow, the crowd was unbelievable.  It’s going to be a huge week for our team and we’ll be doing everything we can to get GB through to the final."

The indoor arena in Glasgow’s East End was built to host badminton events at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and now hosts basketball on a regular basis. It will have its capacity extended to 8,200 and a hard court laid down for the Davis Cup event.

The Great Britain vs. Australia semi-final coincides with the meeting between Belgium and Argentina at Forest National in Belgium. 

The winner of the semi-final in Glasgow will either travel to Belgium or welcome Argentina for the final in November.

Eurosport has secured the renewal of the exclusive digital and TV rights for the Australian Open, ensuring the Australian Open remains on Eurosport across more than 50 European markets until 2021.

The renewed partnership with Tennis Australia, which begins from 2017, also includes new additional exclusive live rights to two Australian Open warm-up ATP tournaments, the World Tennis Challenge along with rights to the Hopman Cup. 

”The Australian Open is much more than just the first Grand Slam of the year,” Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley said. 

“It marks the start of the global annual sporting calendar through four weeks of world class events during Australia’s summer of tennis. As such, we are delighted to have taken our relationship with Eurosport and the Discovery Group to a new level.”

“Fans will now be able to follow in one place the exciting journey we take every year – from Brisbane and Perth, Sydney to Adelaide and culminating in Melbourne at the Australian Open. 

Eurosport will broadcast 300 hours of live coverage on Eurosport’s TV channels and, for the first time, live online coverage of available matches from each event as produced by Tennis Australia.

“As viewing habits consolidate through multiple screens, compelling engagement through online platforms is at the heart of this new deal,” said Tilley.

“We’ll deliver fans more and better content than ever before, both on and off the court, when and where they want it.” 

All Australian Open matches in 2016 will be available live on Eurosport Player, the online broadcast platform that achieved record-breaking viewing figures for the French Open and the US Open.

Peter Hutton, Chief Executive Officer, Eurosport said: “The Australian Open is a lynchpin in Eurosport’s extensive portfolio of leading tennis properties and has been so for over 20 years. 

“Eurosport is dedicated to securing exclusive must-have sports and also building and amplifying key existing partnerships, as we are doing with Tennis Australia by securing additional live rights that give the channel a whole month of exclusive top class tennis. 

“This helps Eurosport tell a compelling story and, along with planned enhancements in our on-site production, will result in an exciting viewing experience for tennis fans across the continent.”

The WTA Elite Trophy, a singles and doubles event offering $2.15m (€1.7m) in prize money, will be staged in the southern China city for the next five years, from 2015 to 2019.

The 12-player singles field in Zhuhai will consist of players ranked No.9 through No.20 in the world, along with one wildcard, in a four-group round robin format. The winners of each respective group will advance to the single elimination semi-final stage of the event.

Six doubles teams will compete in a two-group round robin format, with the winner of each group advancing to the final. 

The Elite Trophy will take place at the custom-designed, state-of-the-art tennis centre in Zhuhai, and will be played the week after the WTA Finals, which see the sport’s top-ranking stars compete in Singapore.

“This brand new event combining great players, a fantastic new stadium and the magnificent location of Zhuhai is a formula that will make the WTA Elite Trophy a success,” WTA chairman and chief executive Stacey Allaster said. “Thanks to the commitment and vision of the Zhuhai government, Huafa Group and Ace Pro Group - APG, the fan experience will be exciting and inspirational, and we will showcase women's tennis and this beautiful city to a global audience through broadcast, digital and social media.” 

Zhuhai’s Vice-Mayor Lydia Long added: “We are deeply grateful for WTA's trust and support in making Zhuhai's dream of joining the WTA family a reality. The people of Zhuhai will warmly welcome the best women tennis players and tourists from around the world to this beautiful, romantic and dynamic city.”

The addition of the Elite Trophy in Zhuhai aligns with the WTA’s strategic growth and development within the Asia-Pacific region. In 2014, 17 WTA tournaments took place in the region. 

The existing Tournament of Champions has been staged in the Bulgarian capital Sofia since 2012, but this year’s edition is set to be its last.

The ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 in London took on special significance in 2016, with Andy and Jamie Murray creating tennis history by achieving World Number One rankings in singles and doubles.

Behind the scenes, UK-based Arena Group supported the event rights holder ATP and venue operator AEG to produce a new look for the tournament, having secured a three year contract with the ATP Tour.

After the 2015 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, AEG informed the ATP that the space previously used for the Fan Zone was no longer available and conversations between the ATP and Arena Group began to redesign the event’s footprint. It was decided to relocate the Fan Zone inside the venue and move the players and sponsors facilities, including the practice courts and players restaurant, to a temporary facility adjacent to The O2.

Arena Group responded to this brief to create over 8,500sqm of temporary venues in keeping with the environment. The new I-Novation system was used to create a flat-roof structure for the VIP reception and security area.

“There was a lot of consultation, planning, investment, innovative engineering and creative thought behind this project and I think it has paid off with the best structure we’ve ever produced for an event,” says project manager Dan Bluff.

Using its I-Novation system, Arena Group designed and built a 40m x 50m structure with 13m high legs, giving the headroom the client requested and delivering a temporary venue with a permanent feel.

This external building mirrored the style of The O2 arena, forming an outer skin comfortably accommodating the players and sponsors’ facilities inside it, which were comprised of two 40m x 15m Arena triple-decker hospitality structures either side of a practice court.

Arena Interiors created well-appointed players’ lounges and bespoke sponsors’ hospitality suites, with Arena Group supplying event furniture from Spaceworks.

I-Novation’s improved insulation properties were appreciated in the November climate, as were Arena’s new wooden staircases and walling system, all of which contributed to the overall quality of the temporary venue.

Guests arrived through a VIP reception and a security area. These new structures were designed in line with the client’s wish to have a building that didn’t have an apex, to fit in with the local environment. Arena Structures’ in-house structural engineers adapted the company’s triple deck base system to create a flat roof venue covering a 250sqm area with no internal pillars.

The second practice court was housed within the O2 Arena’s Tensile Fabric Structure at the core of the relocated Fan Zone, alongside the double decker media facility.

Three broadcast studios were installed over the seating at one end of the O2 Arena. The event was broadcast to millions of viewers, who enjoyed a spectacular week of tennis culminating with Andy Murray being crowned both Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion and the year-end world number one.

“The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is the climax of the men’s professional tennis season. As such, we strive to deliver the best possible experience for all stakeholders at the tournament, whether that be the players, sponsors, media or fans,” says event director Adam Hogg.

“Working closely this year with AEG and Arena Group we were able to deliver a world-class event that provided all of these groups with an enhanced offering and a positive experience for their time at The O2.”

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is planning to invite cities to bid to host the Davis Cup final from 2018.

Currently, each of the matches is hosted by one of the teams competing in that match, including the final.

"Right now we know who are in the finals but we don't know where it is going to be," ITF President David Haggerty told Reuters.

"It is really hard to plan and get viewership and fans excited," he said. "If you have a fixed site, people can begin to plan and look ahead.

He is proposing a new system whereby the final will be hosted in a host city in a neutral nation to be decided in advance.

"This is a way to unlock potential revenue which will help grassroots tennis," he told Reuters.

This system is also used by the UEFA Champions League where the final is held in a neutral host decided two years before the event, and the NFL’s Super Bowl final where the is host city is decided three to five years in advance.

"This is all part of our mission to make the appeal of tennis broad and wide," said Haggerty, who was elected president of ITF in 2015. "Davis Cup is 135 nations."

The ITF is also reported to be considering shortening matches and expanding the Fed Cup to include 16 nations.

Haggerty anticipates the price cities would pay for hosting the final will be "significant".

"We're waiting for cities to distinguish themselves," he told Reuters. "And we'll see what it is. I don't want to prejudge what it might be."

The proposals will be voted on by the ITF membership in August 2017 for implementation by 2018.

Haggerty anticipates a successful bid covering more than one year. "The most likely scenario would be for two-to-three-year terms," he said.

Croatia will host the 2016 Davis Cup final on 25 to 27 November, after they won their semi-final against France in Zadar, but a host city has not yet been named.

They will play Argentina, who beat Great Britain in a semi-final in Glasgow on16 to 18 September.

The current system gives little time to engage fans in the build-up to the event. "Last year we had a fantastic final in Ghent. But the reality is, Britain could have sold out the (13,000-capacity) stadium. Belgium could have sold it out, too.

"Our mission is to make tennis broad and wide. We have 700,000 spectators that come to Davis and Fed Cup each year... about 3.6 billion people view it on TV, but it's got to be more than that.

"It's got to be bigger than that, and with a neutral final venue we can work with our broadcast partners and make it a much bigger show than just two nations that know they're playing each other.”

The semi-final of the 2016 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group between will take place at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena from 16-18 September 2016 – and the host nation is upbeat about the benefits the event will bring.
The decision by the Lawn Tennis Association to host the tie between the Aegon GB team and Argentina follows Scotland’s successful hosting of Davis Cup matches last year.
“Scotland was delighted to host the Davis Cup first round and semi-final in 2015 and, on both occasions, the support at The Emirates proved why Scotland is the perfect stage for events of this magnitude,” Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events tells Host City.
“I have no doubt that this year’s semi-final against Argentina, which we are supporting through EventScotland’s International Programme, will be no different and expect tennis fans from across the UK and further afield to travel to Glasgow as Great Britain attempts to retain its Davis Cup title.”
The international appeal of the event is particularly attractive proposition for the host nation. 
“For Scotland as host nation, and Glasgow at a local level, major occasions such as this are hugely valuable. The sell-out matches in 2015 saw a total attendance of more than 47,000, with a significant proportion of those people, 31% and 42% respectively, travelling from outside of Scotland. We expect similar interest in September’s fixture, meaning, again, Scotland is set to benefit from the associated economic impact that this influx of visitors brings.
“Additionally, for both Scotland and Glasgow, the prospect of staging such an important match means an increase in exposure across all media formats both at home and abroad. In terms of reinforcing Scotland’s capability in staging world-leading events and promoting Scotland as a tourist destination, raising the nation’s profile in this way is critical.”
Tennis, along with cricket golf, basketball and athletics, is attracting more participants. According to statistics released in July by SportScotland, sports participation has risen over the last two years, with sports club membership rising from 706,764 to 768,212 since 2013/14. 
Scotland hosting the Davis Cup is set to increase this trend – particularly given that last year’s winners and Scottish brothers Andy and James Murray are currently on top form.
“The timing of the match lends itself to generating further legacy benefits by encouraging more young people to become involved in sport,” says Bush. 
“After Andy Murray’s second victory at Wimbledon, Jamie Murray’s continued success as one of the world’s best doubles players and shortly following tennis in the Rio Olympics, we are confident the Davis Cup can further inspire youngsters to take up tennis and become more active. This is vital for the development of the sport in Scotland and in encouraging young Scots to lead healthier lifestyles.”