China’s best have much to learn
The highly-anticipated rise of Chinese men’s tennis has seen some recent breakthroughs, but enormous challenges remain for homegrown aces hoping to catch up with the world’s best.
For years, a chronic lack of consistency has denied Chinese men a perch in the sport’s upper echelon, evidenced by Pan Bing’s drop from then national-best world No 176 in 1995 and regular first-round losses at the Grand Slams by the country’s current best doubles combo, Zhang Ze and Wu Di.
But the recent surge, highlighted by teenager Wu Yibing’s US Open boys’ title and Zhang Zhizhen’s quarterfinal run at the Shenzhen ATP 250 tournament has rekindled optimism.
“Like everybody else, we expect to climb faster and go further than our predecessors as men’s tennis in China is in a desperate need for success,” said Zhang, who broke into the quarterfinal at an ATP Tour event for the first time last week in Shenzhen.
Citing more professional exposure, better coaching and conditioning, the 20-year-old Shanghai native envisions a smoother ride en route to establishing a presence on the brutally competitive men’s tour.
“I think we are in a better situation in terms of what it takes to become good professionals. Hopefully, we can work out better results,” said Zhang, who climbed 141 places to sit at No 354 in the world after his deep run in Shenzhen.
Wu, 17, served notice to the world in New York last month, becoming the first Chinese to triumph in a Grand Slam junior event at Flushing Meadow.
On the heels of his US Open triumph, Wu won another title at the pro entry-level ATP Challenger tournament in Shanghai and has set his sights on becoming the first Chinese male to crack the world’s top 100.
Unlike the generation of players developed in the traditional State-run training system, Zhang and Wu represent the new breed of talent cultivated by a melded Chinese Western program. They’ve forged their careers with financial backing from their families, along with technical and logistic support from the governing body.
It allows them to compete on a more flexible schedule, sign their own sponsors and solicit foreign expertise.
“It gives us a sense of what life as a professional tennis player looks like and how we should develop in line with international practice in professional tennis,” said Zhang.
Big gap remains
Still, the challenge of maintaining game intensity on a consistent basis remains an obstacle.
The drop in Zhang’s form from a close first set to a lopsided second one in his 6-4, 6-1 loss to Malek Jaziri of Tunisia in Saturday’s qualifier for the ATP 500 tournament at the China Open underlined the gulf between Chinese men and their elite foreign counterparts.
But losing to the world No 90 is not something Zhang should be ashamed of.
“Actually, I feel like the gap between us and the world is not as big on court as reflected by the differences in rankings,” said Zhang, whose tall frame and strong upper body resemble the physique of French star Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
“If I play my ‘A’ game, I definitely have a chance to beat a top-100 player, and knowing that will help me to stay upbeat facing setbacks.”
Chased hard by the younger generation, Wu Di, who became China’s highestranked male ever after reaching world No 140 last April, said he is excited rather than worried about eventually be overtaken by his younger compatriots.
“If we could have more like them, the pressure on the shoulders of our generation will be lighter,” said Wu Di, who lost to Wu Yibing in straight sets in their last encounter at the quarterfinals of last year’s China Tennis Grand Prix.
Wu Di got off to a flying start in 2016 by fighting his way through qualification to the main draw at the Australian Open, followed by winning his first ATP Challenger event in Hawaii to climb to world No 140 in April, but he has failed to deliver comparable results since.
“We could play one really good match, but then we might play 10 bad ones. The ability to maintain consistency all year long is our biggest weakness,” said Wu.
Thanks to the country’s huge tennis market, the ATP Tour last year added a fourth event, the Chengdu Open, to its tournaments in Shenzhen, Beijing and Shanghai, making the China swing a valuable drill for the youngsters to gauge themselves against the foreign elite through wildcard entries.
“We definitely need to make the best of these home tournaments and to practice as much as possible with the world’s top players and to observe every bit of their routines in order to properly prepare,” said Zhang.