Shanghai woman pockets 1 million yuan from winning tennis tournament
Zhao Xinyao from Shanghai became the champion of the One-Point-Win amateur tennis tournament which took place at the Qizhong Tennis Center in Minhang District over the weekend.
First introduced in 2020 by Juss Sports, the amateur tournament, where every point is a match point, was a replacement for the Rolex Shanghai Masters which was canceled each of the past three years amid the pandemic.
Zhao Xinyao (left) and Wang Chen meet in the final.
This year's event started on November 19, setting entries for 512 players who were paired randomly for one-point matches with winners advancing to the next round.
Zhao went through a total of nine rounds of battle, beating Wang Chen in Sunday's final to pocket the 1-million-yuan (US$139,560) prize money.
"I think mental power plays a crucial role in a tournament like this," Zhao said after winning the final match. "One needs to be relaxed."
Zhao went through a total of nine rounds of battle to pocket the 1-million-yuan.
She added, "I have observed some very good players who get nervous after walking onto the court and can't do basic movements correctly... The most important thing is to overcome oneself before beating anyone else."
Male and female players were mixed in the tournament, though female players had the privilege to choose whether to serve or receive when taking on a male player. All participants were required to show a negative PCR test report within 24 hours on each match day.
Shanghai native professional player Wu Di gives instruction to the top 16 players during Sunday's finals.
