"Brilliant" was frequently the term used by the commentators on Eurosport, Sam Smith and Chris Bradley, to describe the Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul and the atmosphere created in it by the spectators during the year-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships. I can comfortably concur with these gentlemen. The tournament is not yet over at the time of writing this article; Petra Kvitova and Victoria Azarenka have yet to play the final match. However, there is no need to wait for the final match to confirm that from an organizational point of view, the tournament has been declared by all parties concerned as a complete success.
The Turkish Tennis Federation (TTF) and the organizers knew the tall order they would face when they won the bid to host the WTA Championships three years in a row. The problem was not that Istanbul was not used to hosting this type of event. In fact, the same arena hosted the 2010 FIBA World Championships, won by the American team; in 2005, UEFA Champions League final match took place here between AC Milan and Liverpool; Istanbul also hosts a yearly Formula 1 grand Prix event, and a WTA regular tour event. Furthermore, Istanbul is a city with high ambitions: it's bidding to host the 2020 Olympics.
The challenges were of a different nature. How to create a more successful WTA Championships than the previous ones? How to overcome the nation-wide sadness created by the very recent earthquake in the city of Van that killed hundreds of people? How to bring tennis to the front of the sports pages where soccer usually reigns? How to sell tickets in the absence of the Williams sisters? More importantly, how to make this event a success in country where tennis ranks in popularity about where water polo ranks in the U.S.? When I talked yesterday to Erhan Oral, ex-Davis Cup player and ex-Fed Cup coach for Turkey, he was astonished that in Turkey where the term "tennis culture" has not yet "found its true meaning," the event was already sold-out for the weekend matches and that it was averaging over 10,000 spectators per day.
But TTF and the organizers were ready to tackle all issues and committed to offering a top-quality spectacle. Preparations began almost two months prior to the beginning of the event. Sinan Erdem Arena was modified to fit a tennis event, the lighting was adjusted, seating was determined just under 11,000. Hundreds of people were involved in these modifications, and it was a tremendous undertaking that showed that TTF and the organizers were determined to turn this event into a success. Since the event began this week, there has been an army of over 700 people who are employed to make sure that the tournament clicks smoothly on all cylinders.
According to Oral, there is no doubt that the labor brought its fruits. He added that other organizational details such as the VIP rooms, the host hotel and transportation were all at a top quality level. Even drivers for the event were all extremely professional and tam-oriented, and were all proficient in more than one language. He went as far as saying, "I can't think of much as to what could be improved for next year's event."
He was not alone in his praise of the event. The players had positive comments about the tournament throughout the week. Maria Sharapova was impressed when she played on the first evening of the tournament and the arena was nearly at capacity, seating over 10,000 spectators; she called the event "one of the best ones thus far" and added "it feels like people planned and they knew about it [the match schedule]."
The event averaged over 10,000 spectators per day and totaled close to 50,000 people during the first four days, i.e. before the semifinals. This is far more than the same number for the last three three locations that hosted the WTA Championships, Los Angeles (2002-05), Madrid (2006-07), and Doha (2008-10). Add to these numbers the sold-out crowds of the weekend, and you have the kind of attendance that tournament organizers see in their dreams. Marketing obviously had something to do with it. Large banners and advertisements were put all over the city for many months, and even PTT, Turkey's official central postal office, issued series of stamps with the pictures of the participating players.
I will finish with an anecdote that perhaps tells the tale of the success of the event better than anything else. The soccer media who have had the iron rule on sports news for so long in Turkey saw for the first time its power threatened by another sport, one that that they would have never expected. During the week, there was a derby soccer match between two of the three traditionally popular soccer teams from Istanbul. Amazingly, it was in some ways overshadowed by the WTA Championships, at least as far as the population of Istanbul was concerned.
There are some big names in the tennis circle in Turkey who believe that the soccer media were even behind the mud-throwing campaign that took place during the tournament when Sharapova announced that she was pulling out of the tournament after her second match due to an ankle injury. There were news bits in the media that Sharapova claimed in the press conference that she really retired because she could not handle being "in a country where dogs are freely roaming the streets without leashes." Some fell into the trap of this fabricated "fantastic" story, such as the Sports Minister Suat Kilic, who had a sharp reply to Sharapova through the media, an ill-advised move on the minister's part.
Let's set the record straight: Sharapova never said such a thing on that press conference. As I said above, she has already praised the organization prior to that press conference. In fact, she said how she would like to recuperate, have a good 2012 campaign, and come back to Istanbul even stronger next November. Whether the claim that this type of fabricated news originated from the jealousy of the soccer media or not is up for debate. But in any case, sensationalist news reporting exists everywhere, including Turkey; and yes, it does attract attention, even if it's based on a complete fabrication or a lie.
The organizers and TTF deserve a big round of applause for a five-star event, especially considering that it was the first one out of three in a row.
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