Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick are just three reasons why fans of top-flight tennis are hoping to make a date with this year's China Open, tickets for which go on sale tomorrow.

Cheaper ground passes give casual fans another excuse to saunter around the sidelines of the $2.1 million men's tournament, or the $4.5 million crown-jewel WTA event, both of which run from Oct 1-11.

"We hope to attract more people to watch the tournament by offering cheaper tickets," tournament director Zhang Junhui said. "So we have more diversified tickets to meet the different needs of fans."

Organizers have pledged to release up to 6,000 tickets for the concurrent weeklong tournaments from 9:00 am tomorrow morning.

All-inclusive tickets will cost 3,500 yuan ($512) - or 2,000 yuan for all Center Court matches and 1,500 yuan for those played on Court No 1.

Ground passes, which provide access to the affiliated ITF and youth tennis competitions, as well as a tennis carnival to be staged on the sidelines of the main event, have been lowered from 50 to 30 yuan to encourage broader participation.

Other newly introduced elements include day passes (80-720 yuan) and wheelchair-friendly seating.

But while most of the prices are unchanged from last year, those who want to get the best views will have to fork out considerably more.

The most expensive seats at title matches, for example, have almost doubled from 1,200 to 2,000 yuan in the space of a year, a move organizers justify by alluding to the new (Beijing Olympic) venue and the upgrading of the women's event to a premier one.

Neither the cost nor the greying economic climate is expected to dampen demand.

"First of all, the tournaments are being held during China's (7-day) National Day festival, which means people will have time on their hands," said Zhang. "Secondly, the venue is a big attraction and, thirdly, all the best players are coming. We feel very positive this year."

Local ticket agents echoed Zhang's unwavering optimism.

"Good and very high-level events like the China Open always sell well," said Jonathan Krane, CEO of Ticketmaster, the tournament's official ticketing office.

"China has a very fast-growing population that loves tennis and tennis fans are increasing every year," he said.

There is also the magnetizing pull of star power.

World No 1 Nadal of Spain, world No 3 Djokovic of Serbia and defending champion Roddick of the United States have already confirmed their entries for the men's tournament, a stop on the ATP 500 Series. This puts it second only to the Master Series in terms of prestige.

The women's tournament is one of four crown-jewel events on the 2009 WTA tour - including two in the US and one in Madrid. In lieu of injury or illness, the world's top 50 players have to attend.

(China Daily March 25, 2009)