Tennis is having fun with a big boon in China.
About 20 million individuals play the game, placing China second on the worldwide rating for tennis participation, behind america.
An Olympic gold medal for one of many sport’s ascending stars, Zheng Qinwen — nicknamed “Queen Wen” — noticed a surge of nationwide pleasure.
However the sport has confronted some turbulence.
The ladies’s tournaments solely returned to China final yr following a four-year boycott as a result of security issues for former participant Peng Shuai.
Peng briefly disappeared from public view after she posted on social media about her relationship with a senior authorities determine after which denied ever claiming she had been sexually assaulted.
The hashtag #WhereIsPengShuai made world headlines and brought on the Girls’s Tennis Affiliation to boycott China. (Twitter)
And in latest weeks, some gamers have apologised for racist feedback or gestures which have offended Chinese language followers.
In a rustic that has historically favoured the desk number of the game, tennis is producing lots of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} and turning into a supply of soppy diplomacy.
Apologies for racist gestures
Within the Asian swing of competitions over the previous few weeks, some gamers have made headlines for the fallacious causes.
Former world quantity two Paula Badosa was closely criticised after posing for a photograph with chopsticks on the corners of her eyes.
She denied the gesture was imitating Asian individuals, saying: “I used to be enjoying round with my face and wrinkles”.
“I like Asia … and have loads of Asian pals. They’re the kindest.”
She later apologised: “Actually sorry, I did not know this was offensive [or] in direction of racism. My mistake. I take full accountability.”
The Wuhan Open, which returned this yr for the primary time since 2019 as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, was the positioning of one other controversy.
Polish participant Magda Linette additionally apologised after she posted an image of her practice to Wuhan with a caption in Polish studying: “The virus database has been up to date.”
World tensions
Hunter Fujak, a senior lecturer in Sports activities Administration at Deakin College, stated whereas he didn’t know the specifics of those instances, the general public was typically fast to crucify athletes for his or her errors, which had been typically as a result of naivety fairly than unwell intent.
He stated athletes had been typically anticipated to be function fashions, however many had been younger and had foregone schooling to pursue sport.
“Athletes are people, and people make errors. It simply so occurs that the magnifying glass tends to be on them,” he stated.
“In a time frame the place we’re in heightened geopolitical sensitivity, these flashpoints can flare out to change into greater points.”
Haozhou Pu, an affiliate professor of sport administration on the College of Dayton, agreed that latest pitfalls for the game in China could possibly be linked to more and more sophisticated geopolitics, particularly when tennis was “intertwined with sporting nationalism”.
“I feel the gamers should be extra consciously conscious of the political dangers and the directors of worldwide competitions ought to undertake extra proactive methods in response,” he stated.
China’s golden ‘Queen Wen’
The latest incidents mar what has in any other case been a stellar yr for Chinese language tennis.
A lot of the hype surrounds the charismatic Zheng Qinwen, who received the gold medal for China on the latest Olympics.
Qinwen Zheng’s gold medal victory in Paris was extensively celebrated in China. (Reuters: Pilar Olivares)
It was a victory she described as extra significant than successful a grand slam, regardless of the slams typically having better status and multi-million-dollar pay cheques.
When she broke into the highest 10 and have become runner-up within the Australian Open earlier this yr, many drew parallels between her and two-time grand slam winner Li Na.
“Li Na and Zheng Qinwen have performed a significant function in reshaping the picture of feminine athletes in China,” stated Jingying Cai, a PhD researcher at Western Sydney College with a concentrate on Chinese language and Australian feminine tennis gamers.
“They’ve enhanced China’s worldwide picture by way of their victories, showcased world sports activities growth and strengthened its gentle energy.”
Zheng Qinwen was listed as quantity 15 on the Forbes 2023 record of highest-paid feminine athletes, with about $8.3 million in endorsements from corporations together with Nike, Rolex, Alipay, McDonald’s, Yili and Gatorade, amongst others.
Dr Pu, from Dayton College, stated each Zheng and Li had been extremely marketable and shared a “fierce however likeable” manner.
Tennis rebels and revolution
Dr Pu identified Li Na was seen as one thing of a insurgent for “flying solo” — breaking from a state-sponsorship mannequin that requires gamers at hand over nearly all of their earnings.
Chinese language participant Li Na received the Australian Open in 2014. (ABC: Ning Pan)
“The ‘flying solo’ mannequin, largely pushed by the concepts of ‘free market’, has reworked the tennis growth system in China and given the gamers extra autonomy over their very own careers,” he stated.
“Zheng took a really totally different path to success in comparison with Li Na. She was not a part of the state system, nor did she ever try to problem or break free from the system like Li Na did.”
He stated for a few years, Zheng’s household was the first backer of her tennis profession.
In an interview with The New York Occasions final yr, Zheng revealed the impression of being a sporting prodigy in China — at simply eight years previous she was dwelling in a unique metropolis to her mother and father so she may practice.
She stated she cried lots and would beg her mother and father to not depart after they visited every fortnight.
Ms Cai stated Zheng represented a brand new technology of Chinese language athletes, including she was inspiring youthful gamers and was affectionately known as “the brand new nationwide icon” on social media.
Chinese language tennis tournaments appeal to world stars equivalent to Naomi Osaka. (Reuters: Tingshu Wang)
China’s rising tennis ambitions
A lot of the main focus of China’s tennis rise has been on the ladies’s sport because of Li and Zheng, however the males’s sport is rising stronger too.
In 2022, Chinese language journalist Zhang Bendou articulated his disappointment:
“Males’s tennis in China has been a delusion for a few years. China can ship rockets to area, amongst many different nice issues, however we simply have not produced even one ATP top-100 participant,” he stated referring to the lads’s tour.
China’s Zhang Zhizhen is at the moment ranked within the high 50. (Reuters: Tingshu Wang)
Zhang Zhizhen was the primary to achieve the milestone, in October 2022, and is now certainly one of three Chinese language males within the high 100. He additionally received an Olympic silver medal within the combined doubles with compatriot Wang Xinyu.
In an interview with state-owned media outlet Xinhua this week, China’s Tennis Administration Centre director Bai Xilin spruiked a “Double 10, Double 100” technique that goals to have 10 gamers of every gender within the high 100.
Mr Bai advised Xinhua: “Because the reform and opening up, as individuals turned higher off, their horizons have been broadened.”
Ms Cai identified China was investing in tennis infrastructure and there had been important progress within the Chinese language tennis market lately, hovering from $950 million in 2019 to $1.2 billion in 2023 — a determine that’s anticipated to swell once more this yr.
“This progress can largely be attributed to ongoing financial growth, accelerated urbanisation, and the rise of the center class, which give a strong basis for the growth of the tennis market,” she stated.
Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus beat China’s Qinwen Zheng to say the Wuhan Open. ( Reuters: Florence Lo)
She added Zheng’s success not solely attracted youthful followers and made the game extra “common and trendy”, nevertheless it additionally served a job in sports activities diplomacy, projecting China’s confidence and competitiveness on a world stage in areas the place the nation had not traditionally dominated.
Ms Cai stated “a love of tennis” may assist unite individuals, regardless of “cultural misunderstandings”.
“In my analysis, I discovered that sports activities diplomacy will increase cultural understanding, thus decreasing racism and fostering a constructive sports activities surroundings,” she stated.
Dr Pu stated the “frenzy” surrounding Zheng Qinwen at the moment reminded him of the thrill surrounding Li Na a few years in the past.
“But it surely took virtually a decade for China to supply the following Li Na,” he stated.
“It might be fascinating to see if the boon might be handed on to the enduring success of elite Chinese language tennis gamers on the sphere.”
