WTA and Porsche renew multi-year global partnership

ST PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA has announced that sports car manufacturer Porsche has renewed their global partnership in a deal that will continue to support women’s tennis.

“The WTA is delighted to extend this very successful partnership with Porsche,” said WTA President Micky Lawler. “Women’s tennis is experiencing an unprecedented period of growth and popularity, and we look forward to working with Porsche to enhance the WTA experience all over the world.”     

The renewal will see Porsche continue as the Official and Exclusive Automotive Partner of the WTA and the WTA Finals Shenzhen. Porsche will also continue as title sponsor of the season-long WTA Finals qualification campaign, which in 2019 will begin an exciting ten-year stay in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. The Porsche Race to Shenzhen will take players through 53 WTA tournaments and four Grand Slams as players compete to qualify for the WTA Finals Shenzhen and the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, with each tournament representing a lap and promoted on a pit lane signpost.

The singles player who finishes the regular season in pole position on the Porsche Race to Shenzhen Leaderboard will be congratulated with a new Porsche model.   

“The WTA Finals are one of the year’s sporting highlights and have developed into an event with worldwide appeal. We’re delighted to be a part of the success story through our long-standing partnership with the WTA, the Porsche Race to Shenzhen and as a partner of the WTA Finals,” said Detlev von Platen, member of the Executive Board responsible for Sales and Marketing at Porsche AG. “As a tech-city in one of our core markets, Shenzhen is an international showcase project for the electrification of passenger conveyance. The new WTA Finals venue is therefore an excellent complement for Porsche’s future orientation.”

Building on the success of the Porsche Race to Singapore challenge, part of the free-to-play WTA Fantasy Tennis online game, the Porsche Race to Shenzhen Challenge has been expanded to include more tournaments and see added enhancements to improve the user experience.
Porsche and the WTA’s relationship began in 1978, when the Stuttgart-based company began sponsoring the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and since 2002 has served as the event owner and organizer.

The Stuttgart event is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments during the European clay court season with an honor roll that includes Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber. Porsche has been the Official and Exclusive Automotive Partner of the WTA Finals since 2015 and began sponsoring the year-long campaign to qualify for the prestigious season-ending event in 2017.