Speaking on RTHK’s Backchat programme on Wednesday, he said authorities were trying to create a profile for the city as a novel tennis international destination.
“You’re building a bit of a brand, and it has to be sustainable, and creating that novelty around the Hong Kong tennis season [has] helped shape Hong Kong to be a mega-event capital through a sporting platform.”
He pointed to the strategic growth of the event portfolio as key.
“Everybody looks forward to coming to Hong Kong at the end of the season, and they kick off the season in Hong Kong with the men’s event,” Cheng said, adding that Hong Kong now hosted ATP, WTA and Ultimate Tennis Showdown events every year, similar to London.
Cheng added that the sport was flourishing in Hong Kong with its pipeline of local talent.
“If you get good players, that’s icing on the cake. Now, it also shows that it’s a testament that the strategy works,” he said.
He pointed to the emergence of rising star Coleman Wong and the promising Kai Thompson on the men’s side, saying they showed a reliable talent pipeline was being created.
“Having two, three players makes a difference so that you’re not relying on just one player,” Cheng said, noting that depth of talent will strengthen the chances of Hong Kong’s Davis Cup team in its playoffs against Finland this weekend.
On the women’s side, Eudice Chong recently broke into the world’s top 100 in doubles and won a WTA event in the Philippines, with Cody Wong also progressing.
Cheng credited the government’s sustained investment and the federation’s Tier A sports status as fundamental to this progress.
“It’s all about sustainable strategy. You can’t just be having a short burst of investment or short burst of events coming through,” he said.
“It has to be a sustainable construct in order to produce players and also produce event destination.”
He said the mission was about activating the sport at all levels.
