As the first Grand Slam event in 2023, the 2023 Australian Open qualifying round will start on January 9, and the main match will be held between January 16 and January 29.

As for Chinese players, 10 players will make their debut at Melbourne Park.

A total of 7 women's tennis players participated in the main match, namely Zhang Shuai, Zheng Qinwen, Wang Xiyu, Wang Xinyu, Yuan Yue, Zhu Lin and Zheng Saisai.

In men's tennis, Zhang Zhizhen is temporarily the first substitute in the main match, and Wu Yibing and Shang Juncheng will participate in the qualifying round.

　　7 Chinese women's tennis players play

　　Wang Qiang temporarily withdraws from the race

　　China originally scheduled 8 players to participate in the women's tennis race.

On December 26, Wang Qiang, currently ranked 91st in the world, announced her retirement.

From 2015 to 2022, Wang Qiang has played in the Australian Open for 8 consecutive years.

In the 2020 Australian Open, Wang Qiang eliminated Serena Williams to advance to the top 16 of the Australian Open women's singles for the first time, and finally lost to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Wang Qiang's highest world ranking once came to No. 12. The best record in the four Grand Slam events of her career was reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2019.

In 2022, Wang Qiang was in a sluggish state. She reached the third round of the Australian Open, was eliminated in the first round of the French Open, entered the second round of Wimbledon, and stopped in the qualifying round of the US Open.

　　After Wang Qiang retires, there are still seven golden flowers who will play in the main match of the Australian Open.

Among them, Zhang Shuai, who performed well last season and ranked 24th in the world, and Zheng Qinwen, who is 27th in the world, will play as seeded players.

In previous years, Wang Xiyu, Yuan Yue and Wang Xinyu, who needed to start from the qualifying round, all went straight to the main race through their hard work in 2022.

Zheng Saisai was troubled by injuries last season. This year she used the protection ranking to play at the 89th Australian Open.

　　Men's tennis is highly competitive

　　Zhang Zhizhen still needs to start from the qualifying round

　　In men's singles, Zhang Zhizhen, the first Chinese men's tennis player to break into the top 100 of the ATP, has not been directly shortlisted for the time being due to too many players who used their protection rankings to enter the main match.

For the time being, he is ranked first as a substitute in the main match. If any player retires, Zhang Zhizhen is still expected to go straight to the main match, otherwise Zhang Zhizhen will have to start from the qualifying round.

In addition, two Chinese men's tennis players Wu Yibing and Shang Juncheng will participate in the Australian Open qualifying round.

　　In the 2022 US Open, Zhang Zhizhen and Wu Yibing broke into the main match hand in hand, setting a new record.

Although Zhang Zhizhen was unfortunately eliminated in the first round, Wu Yibing not only won the Grand Slam for the first time, but also made persistent efforts to reach the third round and broke into the top 32 men's singles.

This is also the best result achieved by a male tennis player from mainland China in a Grand Slam tournament.

　　Yangcheng Evening News reporter Long Xi

　　"Yangcheng Evening News" December 30, 2022, version A09