At S’pore Tennis Open and S’pore Smash, crowds loudly proclaim some faith in sport

The city should be silent. It’s a working Monday, kids back in school, 7.45pm on a Singapore night. But hell no, it’s smoke, lights and passionate pandemonium in OCBC Arena. Local hero Clarence Chew is being confronted by the sophisticated skill of China’s world No. 4 Liang Jingkun, but even as he loses he finds the evening heady. A sturdy crowd – over 2,000 ticket holders – will do that.

“From the first moment you step on court,” says Chew on Feb 3, “you can hear the crowd cheering for you. The atmosphere, the lights, everything, it really hypes you up and pumps you up. It gives you the real feeling of a world-class, spectacular event that is being held in Singapore.

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