Do Tennis Players Choose Hong Kong for Australian Open Preparation?

Yet again, questions must be asked why some top tennis players choose to come to Hong Kong at the start of the tennis season. The oft-used claim that it is to do with preparing themselves for the Australian Open is starting to wear thin. Especially since Maria Sharapova has just lost in the first round of the 2010 Australian Open.

[Maria Sharapova lost 7-6 (7-4) 3-6 6-4 to fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko in the first round of the Australian Open. Pic BBC Sport.]

Just how much do tennis players earn for making an appearance in Hong Kong? Or is it the shopping that draws in the female tennis players?

Note: Sharapova won the Australian Open in 2008, but was she in Hong Kong that year? Serena Williams won the Australian Open in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, but was she in Hong Kong those same years? Is there a link?

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EDIT: Paragraph from AFP news article “Cool Kirilenko silences Sharapova” by Martin Parry in Melbourne (Jan 19, 2010):

Sharapova, 22, was a shadow of her former self in a 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-4 defeat to Maria Kirilenko. Seeded 14, she paid the price for opting to play only exhibition tournaments in Thailand and Hong Kong as a warm-up to the season's opening grand slam.

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