The Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena,
[ also known as Qizhong Stadium,][ is a tennis ]arena
An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
in Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, People's Republic of China.[
Also known as "Qizhong Forest Sports City Tennis Center",
see "Welcome to Minhang", 2008, webpage:
]
S-cn
[
"Tennis Masters Cup",
ATP Tour, Inc., 2005, webpage:
]
masters-cup.com-stad
The complex is located on an area, in , in the southwest of Shanghai, Minhang District
Minhang District is a suburban district of Shanghai with a land area of and population of 2,429,000 residents as of 2010. The original Minhang consist of present-day Jiangchuan Road Subdistrict (Former Minhang Town) and the eastern strip of Wu ...
.It has a steel retractable roof
A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term op ...
which opens and closes in a pinwheel or spiral manner, with eight sliding petal-shaped pieces (moved in 8 minutes) resembling a blooming magnolia
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
(Shanghai's official city flower).[ The roof enables the stadium to host both indoor and outdoor tennis events. The ]seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
is 13,779 people.[
"Tennis Masters Cup - Qi Zhong Stadium Design Information",
ATP Tour, Inc., 2005, webpage:
]
masters-cup.com-stadium_overview
The stadium was specially created to host the ATP World Tour Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
between 2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
– 2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,[ and was the largest tennis venue in Asia, until the construction of the ]Olympic Green Tennis Centre
The National Tennis Center (), is a tennis center located in the Olympic Green. It opened on 1 October 2007. It hosted the tennis preliminaries and finals of singles and doubles for men and women at the Beijing 2008 Olympics as well as the Paraly ...
in Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
.Since 2009 it has hosted the Shanghai Masters, an ATP Tour Masters 1000
The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
tournament which began that year. It also served as one of the venues used for the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...
's Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...
and Orlando Magic
The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...
during their tour of China in 2007.
Stadium features
The Tennis Centre covers a total area of 338,836 square meters, of which 85,000 square meters are made up of structures.[ The volume rate is 0.187, the building density 15.1%, green/open space 46.1%, with parking capacity of 993 parking spaces. The facility has 25 courts, including three main courts, namely center court, grand stand court 2, and court 3.
*The center court stadium spans 30,649 square meters.][ It has four floors, for a total height of 40 m (131-ft) above ground level. The center court is covered by a steel roof with eight petal-shaped pieces (each petal weighs two tons) which resemble a magnolia, Shanghai's city flower. The opening of the roof represents the blooming of a magnolia flower.
*The roof takes eight minutes to completely open or close.][
*The stadium can be adapted for other international events such as basketball (as in 2007), volleyball, table tennis, or gymnastics.][
During the ]ATP World Tour Finals
The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
event, there was a retail zone, with the public eating/drinking areas outside the stadium.[
]
History
The stadium is located in Ma Qiao Town[ in southwest Shanghai, the ]Minhang District
Minhang District is a suburban district of Shanghai with a land area of and population of 2,429,000 residents as of 2010. The original Minhang consist of present-day Jiangchuan Road Subdistrict (Former Minhang Town) and the eastern strip of Wu ...
. The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Construction and Administration requested international bids in 2003, for building the stadium.[
The winning bid was submitted by Japanese architect Mitsuru Senda and his company Environment Design Institute (EDI), an architectural and landscape firm specializing in children's environments including schools, museums, hospitals, sports facilities, parks, play structures, daycare centers, and housing.][
EDI had designed sports stadiums in Japan, including the ]Tokyo Tatsumi International Swimming Center
is a swimming venue in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. The swimming centre has hosted several Japanese swimming championships.
History
The swimming complex was designed by the Environment Design Institute, a Tokyo architecture firm. It was commissione ...
and the Tokoname Municipal Gymnasium. Mr. Senda, a former President and now honorary member of the Architectural Institute of Japan
The Architectural Institute of Japan, or AIJ, is a Japanese professional body for architects, building engineers, and researchers in architecture.
The institute was founded in 1886 as an institute for architects. It was renamed the Architectural ...
, established EDI in 1968 with a design philosophy to adapt comprehensive planning along with the layout of the environment.[
Each leaf, of the roof, was constructed on the ground beforehand. The method of testing each leaf on the ground was similar to that used by China Aerospace, where each roof piece must pass a test, before it can be elevated to its position for final installation.][
Other companies involved in the center's construction include:
][
*China Construction Third Bureau – construction contractor
*Jiangnan Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. – steel infrastructure
*Shanghai Mechanical Construction Co., Ltd. – roof construction
Currently, tennis park around the Centre Court Stadium is expanding. There will be a total of 40 tennis courts when Phase 2 is completed (Centre Court Stadium, 3 small indoor stadiums, 14 indoor courts and 22 outdoor courts).][
]
See also
*Tennis in China
Tennis in China is a rapidly growing sport that has received much private and public support, and has today become firmly entrenched in the Chinese as one of the most popular. Tennis is now the third-most popular sport on television in China, b ...
*List of tennis stadiums by capacity
The following is a list of notable tennis stadiums by capacity, that is the maximum number of spectators they can regularly accommodate.
Notes:
* Stadiums ordered by their capacity (if equal, by the first stadium to reach the capacity)
* Some o ...
*List of indoor arenas in China
The following is a list of indoor arenas in China, with a capacity of at least 4,000 spectators.
Most of the arenas in this list have multiple uses such as individual sports, team sports as well as cultural events and political events.
Current ...
References
External links
Shanghai Rolex Masters 1000
{{Shanghai
Tennis venues in China
Indoor arenas in China
Retractable-roof stadiums
Sports venues in Shanghai