Case study: Taking the Wuhan Open to the world
How Aliko Sports turned a tournament Instagram account of 8,000 followers into 38.5 million views in 12 days.
The challenge
In October 2026, The Emilia Group brought Aliko Sports in to run the WTA 1000 Wuhan Open’s international Instagram, alongside the WTA and local Chinese content teams. The account had 8,000 followers and no real strategy behind it. It had to go from near silence to posting all day and overnight, with little lead-in time.
Three things made it harder. Fans needed a reason to care about Wuhan, both the city and the event. We were posting from China for fans in Europe, the Americas and Australasia. And every result and storyline had to go out while it still mattered.
The strategy: more than tennis
A tournament is an entertainment event, so the feed showed far more than the tennis.
The city. WTA stars at Wuhan landmarks on the ACES programme, from East Lake to the world’s biggest shopping mall.
The fans. Vox pops, ticket sales and the buzz around the venue.
The player party. Players off duty, reaching fashion and culture audiences who bring a different perspective.
Media day. A week of original formats, all shot on media day.
Storylines. Swiatek v Chwalinska was the biggest story of the week, and we told it fast. Three posts drew 1.9 million views.
The WTA team. We worked alongside their content team and covered areas no one else did: players off court and doubles matches.
The setup: one small team, content out in minutes
Creative Director Alex Hyman ran everything on site, from first shot to final post, working with a remote social manager. A Sony FX3 handled the cinematic pieces, while iPhone and Osmo footage fed quick Stories and Reels; the mix reached different audiences. Sign-off from the International Media Manager came over WhatsApp and WeChat, so posts landed minutes after match point and off-site Reels went out the same day.
The results
Over the 12 days from 9 to 20 October, the account reached a global audience of millions.
Views | Account interactions | Profile visits | New followers |
38.5M | 1.5M | 149K | +5.5K (up almost 70%) |
The posts that travelled furthest:
Swiatek v Chwalinska semi-final reaction: 1M views
The player party: 886K views
Iga and Maja: proof dreams come true: 457K views
A first WTA title for Chwalinska: 458K views
Source: Instagram Insights, official tournament account.
Creator collaborations
We used our network of tennis creators to take the tournament beyond its own followers. Aliko introduced and managed two collabs with the Wuhan Open account, each live within 30 minutes. Creators got exclusive tournament content, and the tournament got their audience:
Tennis Legend (1.1M followers): Chwalinska’s first WTA title, 458K views. 91% of those views came from people who didn’t follow the tournament.
Functional Tennis (1.1M followers): a practice session Reel, 77K views and 1.8K likes.
Together, they put Wuhan in front of 2.2 million creator followers.
Feedback
“Great job. It’s worked brilliantly. The feedback from everyone here has been great.” Eleanor Preston, International Media Manager, The Emilia Group
Bring your event to the world through content
Next, we’d add original doubles and coaches content from the early rounds, and TikTok to reach fans aged 13–17. If your event deserves a bigger audience, email hello@alikosports.com.
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