Chinese officials are in the midst of a sweeping re-fit of the almost-new Qi Zhong arena the home of Shanghai's ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament.
The sports complex is being given two new minor show-courts to go along with the 15,000-seat main arena and its movable roof.
Chinese construction is expected to be complete by August, two months before play starts on October 10. Officials are expecting up to 150,000 spectators from the city of 16 million to attend after getting a taste of the best in the world during the Masters Cup era which ended last November.
"It's a chance for them (fans) to see this sort of tournament, and not just round-robin matches or simply big matches between stars," said Federer. "I think you need a real big tournament to get a sense of how the tennis tour works. They will get to see more stars, and many more matches. Also, the outside court will be much more alive."
