China serves plan for competitive tennis ecosystem
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Zheng Qinwen is the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Follow topic:
HONG KONG – China has unveiled a detailed plan to build and implement a tennis ecosystem, from boosting the number of top professional players and creating Chinese tournament brands to expanding the availability of courts and infrastructure across the country.
In a document released on Aug 20, China’s official sporting body said it would encourage cities, businesses, schools and villages to “vigorously develop tennis” and build a new training system to develop top talent.
The document said that the country would strive to “cultivate more than 10 high-level professional players (ranked in the top 100 in the world) and more than 100 professional players and coaches active in international competitions”.
China has seen growing enthusiasm for tennis since Zheng Qinwen, 22, became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics last year.
Chinese tennis players have also become more visible at Grand Slam tournaments and on the ATP Tour, including the likes of Zhang Shuai, Zhang Zhizhen and Wu Yibing.
China aims to establish 10 “strong tennis provinces” and “100 strong tennis cities” with youth training centres and tens of thousands of youth tennis clubs, the document added.
The Asian nation will also strengthen the “tennis tournament economy” to expand the flow of tennis tournaments and drive the growth of tennis consumption, as well as promoting tennis leisure and tourism routes.
In other tennis news, two-time Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff has parted ways with coach Matthew Daly just days before the start of the US Open, ESPN reported on Aug 20.
World No. 3 Gauff will continue to work with longtime coach Jean-Christophe Faurel and has also brought biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan.
She was seen training on Aug 20 at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in New York with both Faurel and MacMillan, who previously worked with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, helping her with her serve and forehand.
Gauff’s own serve has been under scrutiny. She committed 42 double faults in just three matches at the Canadian Open earlier this month, part of a season-long pattern that has seen her rack up a tour-leading 320.
Under Daly and Faurel, she enjoyed some of the best results of her career, including winning the WTA 1000 China Open, the WTA Finals, and this year’s French Open. However, her recent form has dipped, with just four singles wins since Roland Garros and a first-round exit at Wimbledon.
The US Open main draw begins on Sunday. REUTERS
