The 2024 Australian Open is destined to become a page worth remembering in the history of Chinese tennis. Chinese player Zheng Qinwen reached the Australian Open women's singles final and eventually won the runner-up. Shang Juncheng broke into the third round in the men's singles competition, creating the best record among mainland Chinese male players in the Australian Open men's singles competition. In addition, a total of 9 Chinese players have entered the Australian Open men's and women's singles main draws, making the Chinese Legion a team force that cannot be ignored in the Australian Open.
In the past 10 years, from Li Na winning the championship to Zheng Qinwen finishing second, the Australian Open has once again become a hot topic among Chinese people. The difference is that 10 years ago, people regarded Li Na's championship as an accident; 10 years later, people believe that it is only a matter of time before Zheng Qinwen wins the Grand Slam championship, and more exciting moments for Chinese tennis are yet to come.
On the evening of January 27, the 2024 Australian Open women’s singles final was undoubtedly one of the events that attracted the most attention from the Chinese people that day. Although in terms of strength, Zheng Qinwen, who has reached the Grand Slam women's singles final for the first time, is still far behind the defending champion and the strong Belarusian Sabalenka, this does not affect the Chinese audience's appreciation of Zheng Qinwen's success after Li Na. The expectation of creating Chinese tennis history.
In this Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen, the 12th seed in women's singles, made it through the top half of the competition and reached the final. The Tennis Grand Slam competition is one of the top sports events with the most international influence. Players who can reach the singles finals undoubtedly prove that the tennis level of the country or region they represent has reached the top in the world. For the Chinese audience, it has been 10 years since they saw their country's players reach the Grand Slam singles finals.
10 years ago, as Li Na won her second Grand Slam championship trophy at the Australian Open, Chinese tennis actually entered a 10-year hibernation period. In the past 10 years, the best performance of Chinese players in Grand Slam singles competitions was to reach the quarter-finals, but they were still far away from the finals or even the championship.
Before this 10-year hibernation period, Chinese tennis had just experienced a "golden decade". Starting from 2004 when Chinese players Li Ting/Sun Tiantian won the women's doubles tennis championship at the Athens Olympics for the first time, Chinese tennis has taken the women's doubles as a pioneer, resolutely followed the path of "internationalization" and continued to create new trends in the past 10 years. history. From winning the Olympic championship to winning the Grand Slam women's doubles championship, and then reaching the top 16, top 8, and top 4 of the Grand Slam women's singles, until Li Na won her first Grand Slam singles championship at the French Open in 2011, and in 2014 In the same year, she won the Grand Slam women's singles championship trophy for the second time at the Australian Open.
However, in the "golden decade" from 2004 to 2014, the overall strength of Chinese tennis was still not strong enough. There were only three or four female players active in the international professional tennis arena all year round, and the domestic tennis foundation was also relatively weak. Overall, Chinese tennis is still in its infancy.
But it was the "golden decade" that laid the foundation for the further development and transformation of Chinese tennis in the future. If Li Na had not won the Australian Open 10 years ago, it is difficult to say whether the girl Zheng Qinwen watching the game in front of the TV would have been so inspired. Many institutions engaged in tennis training in China also have similar feelings, that is, Li Na's two Grand Slam championships are one of the key factors in activating the domestic youth tennis training market. It is precisely because of the power of idols and the unprecedented success of Chinese players in professional tennis that more and more Chinese teenagers are embarking on the road to tennis and gaining support from their families.
According to the "Global Tennis Report 2021" released by the International Tennis Federation ITF, China's tennis population has reached 19.92 million and the number of tennis courts has reached 49,767. According to statistics from the Chinese Tennis Association, the total number of registered tennis players in the country in 2022 will be 4,362, an increase of 3,437 from 2009 - both in terms of tennis foundation and the number of registered players, Chinese tennis is no longer what it used to be.
The 2014 Australian Open was the final glory of China's "golden decade" of tennis. Li Na announced her official retirement only eight months after winning her second Grand Slam championship. Since then, Chinese tennis's singles performance in Grand Slam events has also declined significantly. It would be a good performance for Chinese players to avoid "exit in the first round" in Grand Slam singles competitions.
However, the seeds of tennis have already been planted in China. The path of the country and families jointly supporting the training of young tennis players has also persisted, providing guarantee for the growth of a new generation of Chinese tennis players like Zheng Qinwen and Zhang Zhizhen.
After Li Na retired, it has been impossible to give an optimistic answer to the question of when China will give birth to its next Grand Slam singles champion. The cultivation of Grand Slam champions requires both tennis soil and the emergence of talented players. Who is such a genius? It was not until 2022 that there was a glimmer of light on this issue.
At the 2022 Australian Open, 19-year-old Zheng Qinwen made it through the first round in his first Grand Slam main draw. What's even more amazing is that she made it past the first round of all four Grand Slam tournaments that year. Zheng Qinwen, who is tall, powerful, and very technically sound, can be said to be a natural tennis player, and her performance in the first year of the Grand Slam competition fully demonstrated her extraordinary talent.
Last year at the Australian Open, Zheng Qinwen, who was competing for the second time, promised to reach the top 10 in the world rankings, but as she herself said: "Participating in Grand Slam competitions, the player's mentality is very important. Last year, I felt that I could achieve Progress, but I didn’t do it because my mentality was not adjusted to the best.” In the four Grand Slam competitions this year, except for Zheng Qinwen, who broke into the top 8 at the US Open, his other three Grand Slam results were mediocre. , even stopped in the first round at Wimbledon. But Zheng Qinwen, who has a strong learning ability, quickly discovered his mentality problems and did enough homework before this Australian Open. “When this Australian Open started, I learned from experience and improved my mentality. To be more peaceful, I will play the Grand Slam as a normal game and enjoy the game. I will not tell myself how far I must go, I will just try my best."
This time, Zheng Qinwen, who has a calm mind, finally completed an important breakthrough in his career. Because only by playing in a Grand Slam final can you be fully prepared to reach the top of a Grand Slam.
Zheng Qinwen felt unwilling to lose to Sabalenka in the final on January 27. She believed that she had not done her best, but she also believed that "I gained more from losing to Sabalenka in this final." , she believes, "There will definitely be a chance for Sabalenka and I to play against each other. If I face her again, I hope I can do better than this time. I will play more aggressively and strive for victory."
After this Australian Open baptism, the young Zheng Qinwen has become more mature. Today, the world ranking of professional tennis players for the new week has been released. Zheng Qinwen rose from 15th last week to 7th. She finally completed the goal she set a year ago. And her future will obviously go better and further.
In the newly released world ranking list of women's professional tennis, it is noteworthy not only that Zheng Qinwen is ranked 7th, but also that a total of 7 Chinese female players are among the top 100 in the world. Based on the number of athletes currently ranked among the top 100 in the world, the Chinese Legion ranks third in the world after the United States and the Czech Republic.
It is worth noting that Chinese men’s tennis was almost incomparable with China’s women’s tennis 10 years ago, but now it has repeatedly made history in the international professional tennis arena. At this Australian Open, young player Shang Juncheng reached the third round of men's singles, and Zhang Zhizhen broke into the semi-finals of men's doubles. Chinese men's tennis has at least been able to carve out a place for itself in the Grand Slam tournaments.
On January 25, Li Na, who participated in the Australian Open Seniors Tournament, returned to the Australian Open Central Court after 10 years. That day was the day Li Na won the championship 10 years ago, the day Zheng Qinwen participated in the women's singles semifinals of this Australian Open, and the day Zhang Zhizhen and his partner participated in the men's doubles semifinals of this Australian Open. Chinese players still made frequent appearances as the Australian Open drew to a close, so much so that this day was called the Australian Open's "China Day." This is a blessing for Chinese fans, and it also reflects the improvement of China's tennis level.
History often has mysterious coincidences. This day 10 years ago was the end of a golden era of Chinese tennis, but this day 10 years later is destined to be the starting point of a new golden era of Chinese tennis.
This newspaper, Beijing, January 29th
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Cixin Source: China Youth Daily