Qinwen Zheng and the emergence of Chinese tennis

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That handshake between Qinwen Zheng and Xinyu Wang on October 12 wasn’t extended at a second-tier tournament with a draw of mostly Chinese competitors.

Rather it came at the close of the semifinal of the WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing, where no fewer than six Top 10 players including Aryna Sabalenka (2), Jessica Pegula (3) and Zheng (7) went head-to-head.

Back in 2010, who would have predicted six players from China in the women’s Top 10?! But here they are thanks to the ascension of two-time Slam champion Na Li (Paris 2011, Melbourne 2014).

Let’s pause here and turn our gaze westward, to Canada.

After many, many years in the Top 100, our nation saw two of its own break into the Top 5s. Eugenie Bouchard, No. 5 in 2014, and Milos Raonic, No. 3 in 2016, were examples and motivators for their young compatriots Félix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Bianca Andreescu and Leylah Annie Fernandez.

Now, back to China.

Ten years later, Na Li’s triumphs have inspired players like Shuai Peng, Shuai Zhang and Saisai Zheng and especially Qinwen Zheng.

Since mid-July, Zheng has been putting together an impressive 24-4 record.

The girl who grew up marvelling at Li Na soared to the upper reaches of the sport and became the first Chinese woman since Na to reach the milestone of 40 wins in a single season.

Last January, Zheng even got to celebrate her AO success with a surprise visit from her idol.

And it’s happening in the ATP, too. No. 46 Zhizhen Zhang is a good case in point.

At the ripe old age of 28, this late bloomer has achieved several firsts, including becoming the first Chinese man to break into the Top 100. In no time, he was joined by his countrymen No. 76 Yunchaokete Bu and the very promising teen No. 47 Juncheng Shang, whose friends call him Jerry.

Jerry’s actually the second Chinese man to win an ATP tournament. He follows in the footsteps of 25-year-old Yibing Wu who claimed the title in Dallas last year—the very same Wu who spent a year away from tennis nursing an injury and still managed to claw his way back to No. 54.

And there’s no better proof than these two pics of Olympic mixed doubles silver medallists Wang and Zhang and gold medallist Qinwen Zheng!

The new rising stars

Gauff, Swiatek, Sinner, Alcaraz: four prodigies who took control of the tennis universe when they were barely out of their teens.

But who’s waiting in the wings to take their place?

Mirra Andreeva

She’s the player most likely to be described as a sure thing.

Mirra Andreeva, who’s six months shy of her 18th birthday, just broke into the Top 20 as the new No.17. She’s the first 17-year-old to join the elite group since Nicole Vaidisova in 2006.

But she’s by no means the youngest, since Martina Hingis, Monica Seles and Tracy Austin each pocketed a Slam before their 17th birthday.

If she were to win her first Slam in Melbourne next year, Andreeva would do so at the age of 17 years, 215 days and become the sixth youngest player in history to pull off the feat, ahead of none other than Serena Williams.

Joining Mirra on the list are No. 27 Linda Noskova of Czechia, 19, who won the WTA 500 in Monterrey in August, and three of her countrywomen: sisters Linda and Brenda Fruhvirtova, who are respectively 19 and 17, and 16-year-old Laura Samson. And let’s not forget 15-year-olds Hannah Klugman and Mika Stojsavljevic of Great Britain.

King Arthur

Meanwhile in the ATP, the youngest potential members of the new next gen are all around 18 years old.

Arthur Fils of France leads the pack, and for good reason since he’s already starting to make a name for himself. The 20-year-old No. 20 is being tipped as the future French no.1 and possibly the next one to land in the Top 10. 

Hot on his heels are 20-year-old No. 43 Alex Michelsen, No. 47 Jerry Shang and No. 51 Jakub Mensik, 19.

The youngest of the rookies and the seventh in line for the throne is No. 154 Joao Fonseca of Brazil, who just turned 18.

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Feature Photo: Reuters