Professional tennis must look to Asia if it wants to continue to grow, WTA Tour president Stacey Allaster said Wednesday.

"The world is moving east," Allaster said. "Our sport, traditionally, is founded in Europe and in North America, but if we really want to grow the game, increase its popularity and capitalize on economic opportunities that are available, we have to look east."

Allaster's comments came while she was attending the annual Sports Media Canada luncheon to receive its award for sports executive of the year.

Allaster was impressed by the National Basketball Association's presence in Beijing during a visit, and she'd love for tennis to have a similar profile.

"The NBA has 100 people working in China," she said in an interview. "You drive through Beijing and you see basketball courts the NBA has helped fund and there is an NBA store."

"There's no question that sports are capitalizing, like other industries are."

Allaster, who is from Toronto, sees challenges ahead for women's tennis, but none that can't be solved.

"The most difficult thing right now is deciding: how do we take the game to the next level? How do we build on the great value that women's tennis has and be mindful of economic forces that are at play?

"Most importantly, we have to create the right structure so we have a healthy calendar for the athletes to be able to play and ultimately deliver a dependable player field for fans."

Sports Media Canada is the Canadian arm of the International Sports Press Association known as AIPS.

(AP via China Daily October 20, 2006)