World No.9 Kei Nishikori will Lead Australian Open 2018 Promotion in Japan

MELBOURNE, Australia, June 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- World No.9 Kei Nishikori will lead Australian Open 2018 promotions in Japan to further fuel the popularity and growth of the tournament in the Asia-Pacific region.

Kei Nishikori, Australian Open 2017 pic credit: Getty Images (This image can only be used without charge if accompanying editorial directly promoting Australian Open 2018.)

Nishikori, the Japanese number one and one of the country's most celebrated sporting icons, has signed on to continue to promote Japan's most watched and most visited Grand Slam as it reaches unprecedented global audiences.

Tennis has been named one of the most popular sports in Japan in recent years, with Nishikori's position in the top 10 men's singles recognised as a key contributor.

"We have enormous respect for Kei as a tennis player and a person. He is an incredible asset for tennis globally and we are proud to be associated with him to help promote our event and the game both here and in Japan," Tennis Australia CEO and Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley explained. "He is a credit to his family, his nation and the sport."

Nishikori's deep involvement in AO 2018 further strengthens a strong Japanese flavor at the Melbourne-based event which has grown at a remarkable rate in recent years, cementing its position as a fan favourite in the region.

For example at AO2017:

• Japan was the AO's largest overseas market by broadcast audience with more than 100 million hours viewed (and has consistently ranked in the top three every year)
• Kei Nishikori's AO matches peaked at 27% total audience share on NHK, averaging more than 20%
• The AO audience from news-only coverage was the largest in the world (with more than 10 million hours viewed)
• Tokyo was the No. 2 overseas city by number of unique visitors to the official website ausopen.com. The AO is the only Grand Slam to have matches airing live on four different platforms in Japan, including NHK (Free-to-air), WOWOW (Pay-TV), Sportsnavi Live (OTT) and ausopen.com (online)
• In a Grand Slam first, all 411 AO main draw matches were streamed live
• In another first all 200+ juniors, wheelchairs and legends matches were also streamed live.

Outside of Australia and New Zealand, Japan had the most visitors to Australian Open 2017 of any country in the world and is one of the top markets for international promotion.

An AO2017 launch for tourism operators, media and partners was held in Japan for the first time last year, and more resources have been dedicated to year-round promotion and relationship building in Japan.

Japan had 35 players competing across all AO draws this year, the top Asian country and behind only the USA, Russia and France globally.

Australian Open organisers are looking forward to building on the incredible success of this year's event which attracted the most-watched tennis match in history, the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal final, and the event's highest ever attendance of 728,000 over 14 days.

Planning for 2018 is well underway with a range of initiatives currently in development for January, including:

• An expanded entertainment offering
• A special Japanese themed activation on Grand Slam Oval
• Increased offerings for international tourists, available both from tour operators or direct purchase
• An increase in broadcast and digital content available in Japanese
• The development of Japanese-language AO content centered around Nishikori and designed specifically for Japanese fans.

"We want to find more and more reasons for Japanese viewers to tune into the Australian Open and get the inspiration to get on a plane and experience it live while enjoying the wonderful Melbourne weather and the many other attractions the city and the nation has to offer," Mr Tiley said.

Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170605/1867879-1