Star power, top-level competition can elevate local tennis culture to new heights

Star players such as Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, and Carlos Alcaraz will be in Shanghai for the 2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters at the Qizhong Tennis Center from September 30 to October 13.

Since last year, the annual tournament has had a 96-player singles draw, running for 14 days. The top 78 players in the ATP rankings advance automatically, along with wild card holders and 12 qualifiers.

Zhang Zhizhen, a local favorite, will compete in both the singles and doubles events. The 2023 Asian Games winner made history last year by becoming the first Chinese player to reach the last 16 of the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 event here.

Zhang will partner Tomas Machac in the doubles.

Shang Juncheng, a 19-year-old Chinese player, also made it to the main draw at this year’s event by virtue of his ranking rather than a wild card.

The qualifiers on September 30 and October 1 feature big names such as David Goffin, Denis Shapovalov, Borna Coric and Aslan Karatsev.

This year’s tournament will again span the National Day holiday, which is expected to attract many fans from out of Shanghai.

Retired tennis great Roger Federer, the Rolex Shanghai Masters’ ICON Athlete, will be at the Qizhong Tennis Center on October 11 to connect with fans.

Tennis fever

Shanghai and China were caught up in tennis fever this year. In Paris, Zheng Qinwen became the first Chinese tennis player to win an Olympic gold medal in singles.

Zhang Zhizhen had teamed with Wang Xinyu in the mixed doubles final the day before. Despite losing 1-2 to their Czech opponents, it was the first Olympic tennis mixed doubles medal for China.

Some domestic club operators described the post-Olympic business as a spring, with a significant number of fans seeking tennis lessons and time on playing court.

The craze was obvious but tennis has always had a strong mass following in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen.

These cities have one thing in common: they all host high-level international tennis tournaments.

The Shanghai Masters was introduced in 2009 after the success of the Heineken Open and Shanghai Masters Cup.

Local tennis club operators used to work as ballboys or ballgirls at these tournaments. Some of the fans who chased stars for autographs at the Shanghai Masters are now parents, and their enthusiasm for the sport is being passed down to their children.

“Since Shanghai began to host international tennis events, those early supporters and participants have become inheritors. Many of their children have started playing tennis,” said Lu Weiping, senior coach of the China Tennis Association.

How to become the next Zhang Zhizhen

Lu was Zhang Zhizhen’s first coach. For Lu, it was understandable that tennis has remained popular with youngsters because of its strong social attributes and fashion statement.

“Zhang’s father played professional football. However, he encouraged his son to choose a sport based more on individual skill,” Lu revealed in an earlier interview.

Like in any sport, reaching a nationally or even internationally recognized level of athleticism is never easy.

Despite his family’s sports background, Zhang needed significant support from the Shanghai tennis team and other resources to finance the costs of hiring foreign trainers and traveling abroad for competitions. The latter is seen as an unavoidable and effective method of developing tennis abilities.

World-class competitions such as the Rolex Shanghai Masters can build up the public’s interest and enthusiasm for the sport, but the development of high-level professional players necessitates a more sophisticated cultivation system.

Shanghai currently has three major tennis learning modes: general school courses, junior sports schools, and commercial tennis clubs.

General schools hold courses once or twice a week with the primary aim of popularizing sports, rather than providing students with long-term and systematic professional training.

Students at junior sports schools can devote more time to training, although the number of coaches is limited. Typically, a single coach oversees a group of students, resulting in a division of their energy and focus, which hinders individualized training.

Although commercial tennis clubs offer one-on-one training, most families cannot afford it. In Shanghai, one month of intensive training in a commercial club costs around 30,000 yuan (US$4,254).

Lu believes that Zhang Zhizhen’s family would have invested at least 20 million yuan by now if he had not been backed by other resources.

Heavy investments are merely one factor.

A youngster typically has to choose between a professional athletic career and an academic one when they reach a particular age.

But is it difficult to have both? According to Lu, the American collegiate basketball system, which has a close relationship with the professional league, is an ideal model for comparison.

“College students can keep the possibility of transforming into a professional player while they don’t have to give up academic studies,” Lu said.

Some Chinese cities have started college tennis leagues.

“We can establish this system as early as in high school,” Lu said. “We can discover talents through the points of the inter-school leagues, rather than gathering everyone to participate in the National Games.”

The development of a healthy tennis talent training system takes time, as well as a solid mass foundation.

A calm mindset is essential for all participants.

After all, only a small percentage of people can become players like Zhang. Sports have always been about defeating oneself and having fun along the way.