SPORTACCORD 2024 INSIGHTS: Touchdowns, Home Runs and Slam Dunks
12 Jun 2024 15:50
Chinese tennis player Zheng Saisai made history last week - but, unfortunately for her, it was the wrong kind of history.
Zheng came out on the wrong side of a three-and-a-half-hour epic against American Madison Brengle in what was the longest women's match at the US Open since the tiebreak was introduced in 1970.
As statistics go, it's firmly at the trivial end of the spectrum, but the fact that Zheng's mark was bettered just three days later is symptomatic of the wider malaise affecting the women's game in China.
Li Na retired last September leaving no obvious successor, but the game was in great shape, with a plethora of ladies soaring up the rankings, all vying to pick up where Li had left off.
Less than one year later, however, things are not looking quite so rosy.
Peng Shuai is the top-ranked Chinese player at No.39, but she hasn't played since retiring in the first round of the French Open. She had surgery on her back shortly afterwards, but it's far from certain she will ever return to full fitness.
Next comes Zheng, ranked 71st in the world, who has won just one out of her last nine tournament matches since winning back-to-back challenger tournaments in the spring.
No other Chinese player is in the top 100.
Zhang Shuai - having been as high as 30 - is now barely in the top 200, Zheng Jie's lack of matches has seen her ranking plummet, while promising youngster Xu Shilin, once the world's best junior, has slipped to No.9 in the rankings.
At the US Open, none of the nine Chinese players made it through qualifying, with both players in the main draw losing early. Meanwhile, in doubles, it was only last year that mainlander Peng Shuai and her Taiwanese partner Hsieh Su-wei were the No.1 pairing in the world. But three girls from Taiwan now outrank the best of their mainland rivals.
China's sports world is still struggling to fill the triple void left by Yao Ming, Li and Liu Xiang, so tennis is not alone in its quest to move to the next level, but the upcoming China Open provides a good place to start.
With Li recently becoming a mother, her continued support of her sport from behind the scenes will have to take a temporary break. Time, then, for one of China's core group of players to step forward and pick up the reins.
Taken from Global Times - Mark Dreyer
Interview with Yiannis Exarchos: to narrate Olympic story in new ways and promote positive values
01 Jul 2024 14:40
Interview with Andreas Zagklis: to keep popularization of basketball with all-round strategy
08 Jul 2024 16:14
Related coverage
17 Sep 2015
Weekly Report: 2016 Rio Olympic Games qualification for Men’s Volleyball reached the TOP list
08 Jun 2016
31 Aug 2016
Wuhan's 1 billion worth stadium to surpass Wimbledon' main court
26 May 2015
China UnionPay renews sponsorship with Shanghai Masters
17 Aug 2015
More from Yutang Sports
SPORTACCORD 2024 INSIGHTS: Paris 2024 here we come!
02 Jul 2024
SPORTACCORD confirms Istanbul as Host City for 2025 Convention
13 Mar 2025
SPORTACCORD 2024 INSIGHTS: Touchdowns, Home Runs and Slam Dunks
12 Jun 2024
Interview with Thomas Lund: to follow new trends and bring younger generations to the sport
17 Jun 2024
Expert insight | New changes on UEFA EUROs: growing maturity of Hisense and other Chinese brands
22 Jul 2024
Yutang Sports
loading...