![\"Naomi](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/05d1a2_e6929dd9ec2441e1b34cf7d08fddde68~mv2.jpg\")
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Naomi Osaka interacts with the Wuhan crowd with a selfie. (Getty\/Wang He)<\/p>\n
As the tennis world chases new riches in the Middle East, it’s the rest of Asia that deserves attention.<\/p>\n
The men’s circuit has just wrapped up its annual swing through Asia and is already heading back to its comfort zone: Europe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across three short weeks (an extended one for Shanghai), we saw five tournaments \u2014 two 250s, two 500s, and a single Masters 1000.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All but one were held in mainland China, with Tokyo’s Japan Open the lone exception.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shop with a 15% storewide discount code: SERVE15 – excludes clearance items, machines, court equipment and gift cards at\u00a0www.tennisdirect.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n It feels less like a true venture into the region and more like a quick stopover before resuming business as usual.<\/p>\n The women’s side tells a different story.\u00a0<\/p>\n The WTA is halfway through a six-week run that includes ten tournaments plus the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.\u00a0<\/p>\n Five are in mainland China, two in Japan, and one each in Hong Kong, India, and South Korea.\u00a0<\/p>\n It’s a striking difference between the two tours and represents the mixed approach the sport has taken to Asia.<\/p>\n Outside the Middle East, tennis has always had an inconsistent relationship with the Asia Pacific.\u00a0<\/p>\n Beyond Australia and New Zealand, the region is littered with tournaments that came and went – flashes of interest that never quite stuck.<\/p>\n Indonesia hosted the Jakarta Open in the mid-1990s and even staged the 1994 ATP World Doubles Championships, where the Woodies lost a five-set thriller.\u00a0<\/p>\n It also ran the WTA Danamon Open in the 90s and later the WTA Tournament of Champions in Bali, before both disappeared.<\/p>\n South Korea was once a regular stop on the ATP calendar through the 90s, before its tournament quietly disappeared. It returned briefly in 2022, only to vanish again a year later.<\/p>\n Singapore also played a key role in the region’s tennis past, hosting both ATP and WTA events through the 1990s. The men’s tour made a one-off comeback there in 2021 during the COVID season, while the women’s event finally returned in 2025 after years away.<\/p>\n Taiwan maintained a steady presence through the 1980s and 1990s with its own WTA tournament, but today sits at the lower-tier 125 level.<\/p>\n India no longer has an ATP event, despite running one continuously from 1997 to 2023, first in Chennai and then Pune.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vietnam hosted a one-off ATP tournament in 2005 and still holds regular Challenger and ITF competitions, but has yet to lock in a permanent place on the main tour.<\/p>\n Even Japan, Asia’s most established tennis nation, has seen events come and go over the years, from Osaka to Nagoya and Sapporo.<\/p>\n A burgeoning market with players rising<\/p>\n Despite that inconsistency, Asia keeps producing talent, with many players succeeding in the 21st century.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Li Na and Zheng Qinwen from China, Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori from Japan, Tamarine Tanasugarn and Paradorn Srichaphan from Thailand, Hyeon Chung from South Korea, Lu Yen-hsun and Hsieh Su-wei from Taiwan, and Sania Mirza from India have all carried the region proudly on the world stage.\u00a0<\/p>\n In doubles, players from the region have combined for 19 Grand Slam titles over the past 25 years.<\/p>\n Now, there’s a new generation breaking through from countries that haven’t been seen at this level in years.<\/p>\n In the Philippines, 20-year-old Alexandra Eala is a game changer with 2025 being a breakout year.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a giant-killing run, she defeated Iga Swiatek en route to the semi-finals of Miami, before following that up with a finals appearance at Eastbourne and an upset with over Clara Tauson at the US Open.\u00a0Eala has now risen from outside the Top 150 to No.54 in the world.<\/p>\n However, her biggest achievement may be making tennis front-page news in a country of 120 million that is basketball-mad.<\/p>\n In Indonesia, Janice Tjen’s 2025 US Open run ended a 20-year drought for her country.\u00a0<\/p>\n Her win over Veronika Kudermetova saw her become the first Indonesian to win a Grand Slam match since Angelique Widjaja in 2003.\u00a0As such, she went on to reach the final of the WTA event in Sao Paulo and climb inside the top 100.\u00a0<\/p>\n It reignited belief in a nation of nearly 280 million people that hasn’t hosted a top-tier event in years. Her success is as much about pride as it is about points.<\/p>\n