"We already have world-class high performance and sports medicine facilities in Auckland, as well as several universities."
The idea could hold wide appeal. There is general recognition the ASB Tennis Arena needs to be redeveloped, to allow Auckland's summer professional tournaments to progress to the next level.
Ideally, the capacity of the stadium needs to be increased, as well as the facility for all-weather play, given Auckland's notoriously changeable climate.
It would be hard to justify a multi-million dollar redevelopment of the infrastructure just for the tournament fortnight but it's an easier sell if the new venue was multi-purpose.
"Clearly if we were looking at an upgrade to an existing facility, we would want that facility to be used for more than just the ASB Classic and the Heineken Open," says O'Riley. "Previously it has been tough to justify new infrastructure for just a couple of tournaments per year - even though that is really important - so if we can identify opportunities where that infrastructure can be leveraged across a whole host of activities, and that activity is generating additional economic growth for Auckland, then that becomes a pretty interesting proposition."
O'Riley says the attraction factors that lure thousands of international students here for secondary and tertiary education could also be transferable.
"We know the factors that draw people to Auckland - general liveability, quality of educational institutions, curriculum and facilities; maybe you could take those criteria and apply them to a sport like tennis. We are already a popular destination for mainstream education, so why wouldn't you add tennis to it? "
However, Auckland faces some strong competition from across the region. Australia is a tennis behemoth next door, with more than 381,000 courts and 74,000 coaches. The Brisbane tennis academy has court surfaces that match all four grand slam events.
China is also experiencing a huge tennis boom - there will be six WTA level events there this year, up from two in 2012 - and courts are being constructed at breakneck pace.
Many tennis academies around the world have a famous name associated with them - Chris Evert, Harry Hopman and John Newcombe have academies in their name in the US, while former world No 2 Magnus Norman is associated with a tennis school in Sweden. 1987 Wimbledon champion Pat Cash has academies in Asia, while former French Open winner Michael Chang has a large facility in Shenzhen.
Na is said to be interested in expanding business interests into the academy sphere and any association with China's first grand slam winner would hold huge appeal throughout Asia and particularly China - but such a deal would not come cheap.
"There would be some definite positives if a high profile coach or player could be associated with the facility," says O'Riley. "Li Na would be exactly the sort of player that would bring some interesting brand cache for Auckland."
