Singapore Open partners with ASICS shoes for regional tennis summit

SINGAPORE — There’s more to it in here the just the inaugural Singapore Open featuring some of the world’s best tennis players.

Putting premium on the development of the sport in the rising Southeast Asia (SEA), Singapore together with official apparel and footwear partner ASICS gathered representatives from neighboring countries for a Regional Tennis Summit over the weekend at the Kallang Tennis Hub here.

Athletes, coaches, officials, media representatives, influencers, content creators and sports enthusiasts from Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines vied in the summit featuring tennis seminar, workshop and clinic as it served as a prelude to the Singapore Open women’s singles and doubles finals on Sunday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Singapore Open was the first-ever WTA 250 event here, where Filipina star Alex Eala also participated but got the early boot in the qualifiers.

World No. 14 Anna Kalinskaya, 2021 US Open Champion Emma Raducanu, and Grand Slam Doubles Champions Elise Mertens and Wang Xinyu, and recently crowned Australian Open 2025 Doubles Champion Taylor Townsend were among the star players in the historic tourney backed by ASICS, endorsed by icon Novak Djokovic as among its world ambassadors.

ASICS SEA regional sports marketing head Sin Ting Low and Malaysia national tennis team coach Mulyadi Jamal along with national tennisters from Malaysia and Singapore conducted the clinic in which the newest ASICS GEL-RESOLUTION X tennis sneaker was also unveiled.

The latest tennis shoe, which boasts a higher medial cut for ankle support, dynawall and dynace for stability and flytefoam technology midsole for cloud-like cushioning, was first launched in the Australian Open before its Southeast Asian release.

The continent included Filipino representatives led by former Ms. Universe-Philippines Gazini Gazados, celebrity-tennis athlete Maika Rivera and fashion designer-athlete Bang Pineda, who had a blast in the latest Asics release, a game-changer in comfort and stability for tennis players. — John Bryan Ulanday