Beijing still wants men after snaring top women's event

BEIJING, Apr 2 (Reuters) Beijing's success in winning one of the ''crown jewel'' events of the women's tour for 2009 had not dimmed its ambition to snare a top men's event too, officials said today.

The WTA announced last week Beijing would host one of four new nine-day top tier events on the WTA tour from 2009 alongside Miami, Indian Wells and Madrid.

The current China Open has back-to-back men's and women's events, however, and organisers said they still wanted to welcome the top men's players to the city, even if Shanghai had been awarded a Masters Series tournament by the ATP.

''We are actively communicating with the ATP to try to get the men's side upgraded so we can have a high-level mixed tournament,'' Sun Kanglin, Beijing's top sports official, told a news conference today.

He added that Beijing had set up a fund of some 500 million yuan to lure big sporting events to the Chinese capital and use the venues built for next year's Olympics.

China Tennis Association (CTA) boss Sun Jinfang said they would find out by the middle of April whether the negotiations with the ATP had been successful.

Another possibility being considered was a joint tournament incorporating Shanghai's Masters Series event, although Sun Kanglin conceded this would be ''difficult''.

The new WTA China Open will have a prize pot of at least million, will be mandatory for the top 50 players in the world and will be played in October.

''This ... means the participation of top players can be guaranteed and the influence of China Open will be increased,'' said Zhang Yabin, president of China Open Promotions Limited.

The China Open is currently played just after the U.S. Open in September and has consequently suffered from a string of big-name withdrawals in recent years.

REUTERS SSC ND1756