ITF launches Chinese social media platforms to attract Chinese fans

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has launched Chinese social media platforms on Sina Weibo and Tencent WeChat, the Chinese versions of Twitter, to catch more eyes of Chinese fans.

ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said Thursday: "We decided to launch our Chinese social media platforms because we recognised that many fans of ITF competitions in China were not getting a full picture because no information was available in Chinese."

Bitti said that the platforms' first objective is extensive coverage of the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, adding that more initiatives are just around the corner.

"We look forward to the launch of our Davis Cup social platforms on Aug. 25 and Fed Cup in early October. We have great Davis Cup semifinals in a few weeks with France taking on the Czech Republic in Paris at Roland Garros, and Switzerland, with Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, taking on Italy at the Palexpo in Geneva.

"That, plus eight World Group Playoff matches, completes one of the best weekends of tennis in any year and we look forward to offering our Chinese fans unique content to supplement what is already available on our English and Spanish sites," Bitti noted. Endite