随着ATP和WTA巡回赛移师上海与武汉，中国的男子网球正经历一段新的增长期，这为持续已久的悬念带来了一丝曙光。女子方面已有所突破，Zheng Qinwen在2024年成为了力量的象征，并且打入了大满贯决赛；然而中国男子球员近两周内取得的成就同样令人瞩目，尽管与女子同胞中的佼佼者相比，他们的水平仍有差距。
在中国，女子网球的普及程度和竞技水平一直领先于男子。Zheng Qinwen在柏林进入半决赛的征程中展现了强大的实力，并成为了继李娜之后，在2010年代赢得两项大满贯冠军的重要代表。目前，中国的六位女球员稳居WTA前一百之列，而男球员仅有三人排名ATP前一百。
直到今年，中国唯一的顶尖男子网球冠军属于在2023年的达拉斯公开赛上称王的Wu Yibing，这是级别较低的赛事。这方面的落差长期是中国网球界的一大耻辱。比如，一位名叫Zhang Bendou的中国记者曾在2022年初直言：“中国的男子网球一直是神话般的存在，我们可以把火箭送上太空，有很多成就卓越的事情，但我们甚至连一个ATP前一百的球员都没有培养出来。”这种状况引发了一片羞愧之声。
然而，一切都开始在近期改变。随着Zhizhen Zhang于2022年10月纠正了这一现状，随后Wu Yibing紧随其后取得突破。最近的亚洲巡回赛中，中国领军人物在男子网球领域合力展现了惊人的进步——尤其是上个月在上海和成都开放比赛中连续击败Lorenzo Musetti和Andrey Rublev等选手时。
Zhizhen Zhang是中国男球员中最为成熟的，而Bu Yunchaokete近期达到了北京公开赛的半决赛，尽管最终败给了Jannik Sinner。Bu在旅途中战胜了Musetti与Rublev等选手，Sinner对他的评价是：“他是一位非常出色的年轻运动员，我们会在更大的舞台上见到他。这需要一些时间，但如果保持这样的水平，他将实现自己的梦想。”
这一系列的突破意味着目前中国有三位男子球员进入ATP前70名，排名分别是Zhang Zhizhen（41位）、Shang Juncheng（51位）和Bu Yunchaokete（69位）。Wu Yibing虽然去年一度排在第54位，但因受伤状态下滑。不过，今年的这股提升趋势可以部分归结为在国内面临挑战时获得的地方优势。在全球频繁旅行带来的疲惫与影响下，Bu和Zhang都不得不退出上海大师赛的赛事。
尽管如此，中国国内对这批球员的热度并未减退——他们中的大多数人年龄相近，共同成长，相互激励着彼此向着Zheng Qinwen所实现的目标迈进。虽然中国网球在最近几十年间变得越来越受欢迎，但在足球与篮球等热门体育项目面前仍相形见绌。根据2023年S&P Global子公司Kangan的调查，观看乒乓球和篮球的人数分别为53%和58%，而网球仅占28%，然而它的普及程度并未反映出这背后的参与人数——大约有2,000万人。中国在2019年的一项ITF调查中显示，实际参与网球运动的总人数要高得多。
Zheng Qinwen在最近比赛中的热度提升令人瞩目，她在接受采访时形容在北京的比赛气氛“疯狂”。中国对网球的投资不仅限于国内，随着内部普及率的增长，这项运动也走出国门。尽管中国国家网球协会（CTA）依旧为球员提供支持与培训中心、物理治疗师等资源，但这些新一代选手的发展呈现了更国际化的面貌。
Zheng Qinwen自2019年起一直在西班牙生活和训练；Shang Juncheng则在11岁时移居佛罗里达，接受IMG学院（位于佛罗里达州布拉登顿）的培养。Wu Yibing则是通过在美网青少年组别夺冠并在中国省级联赛成长后，签约了IMG。32岁的Zhang Zhizhen在三年前搬到克罗地亚，在世界第3和前教练Ivan Ljubicic手下训练。
Bu Yunchaokete自小与自己的蒙古族家庭生活在一起，并且在他的五岁父亲去世后选择继续住在岳父家，遵循当地传统。随后，他被送往新疆的乌鲁木齐接受教育，并就读于孤儿村学校。他的网球教练Long Yong发现了他的潜力，在湖州帮助他提升水平，并在2016年赢得橘碗国际网球锦标赛U-14组冠军；此后几年，Bu达到青少年世界第5名的排名，并开始参与ITF赛事。
尽管Bu一度被误认为是孤儿，但事实证明他的母亲和继父仍与他保持着联系。他说：“我走过的道路与众不同。”教练们回忆说，Bu天生不同凡响且极具求胜的决心。
新冠疫情曾影响了Bu的发展，但他去年赢得了首场挑战赛冠军，并在2024年在上海大师赛上晋级半决赛，在U.S.公开赛中复出并打入半决赛。在 Hangzhou Open 和China Open期间，他接连战胜了前世界排名第15的Rublev、Musetti和Karen Khachanov。
长期教练Yu Jinxing表示，Bu今年的进步关键在于心态转变——敢于采取更具侵略性的打法，并有信心挑战顶尖选手。在这两周内，他已经连续击败了三位当前或过去的Top 15球员。
为了支持中国运动员面临的压力，Bu最近请来了前世界第193的退役选手Li Zhe作为教练团队的一员。西班牙教练Ricardo Ojeda Lara也是他的团队成员之一，这再次证明了这批运动员在全球范围内的发展趋势。
这些球员各自在风格与个性上有所区别：Zhang Zhizhen身高6英尺4英寸（约193厘米），拥有强力的发球和正手。他今年在双打领域取得了不俗的成绩，并在澳网和法网八强中搭档Czech选手Tomas Machac，还获得巴黎奥运会混双银牌。
Shang Juncheng身高更矮，打法更为战术性，但他也能发挥出强大的攻击力。左手握拍的他具有多样的球路与有效的小斜线截击，能在世界前50位的排名上占有一席之地，并以19岁的年龄在青少年时期表现出色。在周三战胜香港选手Coleman Wong后，他将面对北京冠军Carlos Alcaraz进行比赛。
Wu Yibing则是一位极具球路精准度和制敌能力的球员，在状态高峰时令人瞩目。他与Bu Yunchaokete关系密切，都在浙江省成长，并且是通过在Zheng的家乡被发现才能成为网球天才。
这四名球员加上19岁的 wildcard Zhou Yi（周逸），他们在这两站赛事中共有五人进入上海阵容，这一成就创造了历史纪录。
来自中国的声音表示，在这两站比赛期间，特别是在Golden Week（国庆长假）期间，观众期待着充满热情的比赛——尤其是中国球员的对决。当Zheng Qinwen在周末比赛中全场爆满时，观众再次涌进了中心球场，并可以预料她与Karolina Muchova的半决赛也将座无虚席。
目前，尽管中国的网球发展仍有很多需要改进的地方，但国内挑战赛的增加、成都公开赛和近几年新成立的Hangzhou Open等赛事帮助了这一项目的普及和发展。此外，中国还需在与全球网球界的联系方面作出更多努力。
尽管Peng Shuai事件引发了不少争议，并导致WTA去年一度中止在中国举办赛事，但现在赛事已恢复正常，而中国与网球世界的合作关系仍在逐渐复苏——尽管彭撤销指控和随后的退役留下了许多未解之谜。对于中国的男子球员而言，接下来在一周后在上海的比赛是展现活力、利用当前高涨的热情并以此推动本国网球水平进一步提高的绝佳时机。
之后他们将迎接澳大利亚公开赛，那里将是检验中国男网实力与潜力的真正舞台。如果能有选手赢得大满贯赛事，这不仅将大大提升中国男子网球界的声望，也标志着这一领域多年期盼的突破终于到来。
新闻来源：www.nytimes.com
原文地址：The Chinese men’s tennis players attempting to make a statement on the ATP Tour
新闻日期：2024-10-04
原文摘要：
As the ATP and WTA Tours move from Beijing to Shanghai and Wuhan, China’s long wait for a big presence in men’s tennis looks a little shorter. has established herself as a force in women’s tennis in 2024 by and reaching the , but China’s male players have made striking success of their own in the last fortnight, even if none of them are on a level with their WTA compatriot just yet. Advertisement Men’s tennis has languished behind the women’s game in China. Zheng, who is into the China Open semifinals in Berlin, has followed on from the two Grand Slam titles that Li Na won in the 2010s. There are six Chinese women inside the WTA top 100, compared to three Chinese men in the ATP top 100. Until this year, China laid claim to just one ATP title — Wu Yibing’s triumph at the Dallas Open in 2023, which is a 250-level event and the lowest rung on the main tour. The underperformance was such a source of shame that in early 2022, Chinese journalist Zhang Bendou said: “Men’s tennis in China has been a myth for many years. China can send rockets to space, among many other great things, but we just haven’t produced even one ATP top-100 player. “We have been waiting too long.” Zhang Zhizhen soon righted that particular wrong in October 2022, and Wu joined him shortly after. Two years on, this year’s Asian swing has seen things come together for the country’s leading male players. At last month’s Chengdu Open (also a 250), Shang Juncheng, 19 and known as Jerry, beat Wimbledon semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti to double the number of ATP titles won by Chinese players. He also became the first to win one on home soil. Meanwhile, at the Hangzhou Open that was happening simultaneously, Zhang, 27, and Bu Yunchaokete (Buyunchaokete in Mongolian, which has no patronymic nor family name), 22, competed in the first ever all-Chinese ATP semifinal. Zhang won the match but lost to a resurgent Marin Cilic in the final. Zhang Zhizhen is the most established of the Chinese men’s players. (Shi Tang / Getty Images) Things got even better this week when Bu became the first Chinese player to reach the Beijing Open semifinals, pushing the world No. 1 Jannik Sinner hard in a 6-3, 7-6 defeat. Bu beat Musetti and the world No 6 Andrey Rublev along the way. After the match Sinner said: “He is a very, very good young player. Advertisement “We’ll see him in the future on bigger stages. It takes a bit of time, but if he keeps coming up with this kind of level, he will reach what he is dreaming of.” All of which means that China now has three players in the ATP top 70, with Zhang at 41, Shang at 51 and Bu at 69. Wu, who was as high as 54 last year, is way down the standings after struggling with injury. This recent improvement can partly be explained by the boost of home advantage during a part of the year that is most challenging for players from the rest of the world. In a particularly gruelling schedule, the travel across the world has an impact — and Zhang and Bu themselves have already exited the Shanghai Masters after their recent exploits. That does not lessen the considerable buzz in China about this clutch of players. Many of them are close in age, coming through at the same sort of time and hopefully pushing each other towards the kind of achievements Zheng has managed this year. Tennis has become a lot more prominent in China over the last couple of decades, but it still lags some way behind the most popular sports, including football and basketball. In a 2023 survey by Kangan, a subsidiary of S&P Global, tennis was the third-most popular sport to watch at home, but its 28 per cent was far from the 53 and 58 per cent figures for football and basketball. Its relatively modest achievements are all the more staggering in light of its participation figures. A 2019 ITF survey, released well before Zheng’s ascent, put participation at around 20million people. There’s been a surge in recreational tennis in China following Zheng’s Olympic gold in the summer, building on the increased popularity of tennis post-pandemic. Like all sports, tennis was hit by the Covid-19 lockdown, but it benefited during the period when social distancing restrictions were still in place because it could be played in a way that other sports couldn’t. Tennis has also been branded in China and other east Asian countries in recent years as more of a lifestyle sport, and this has helped it achieve greater cut-through. Fans have filled stadiums for Zheng Qinwen’s matches in Beijing. (Adek Berry / AFP via Getty Images) Going a lot further back, an important moment in Chinese tennis came in 2009 when an agreement was reached ending the previous system where the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) took a big chunk of the players’ revenues. There have also been various moments over the last 20 years that have, either briefly or otherwise, elevated the sport’s popularity. The has a huge nationwide appeal, and so Li Ting and Sun Tiantian winning the women’s doubles gold in Athens in 2004 was a big moment. Yan Zi and Zheng Jie won the bronze four years later when Beijing hosted the Games, after which the Chinese government made sweeping investments and policy changes to improve sporting infrastructure in the country. Advertisement These achievements paled in comparison to Li winning China’s only singles Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros in 2011 and the Australian Open in 2014. She retired later that year. On the face of it, China hasn’t really built on Li’s legacy. Peng Shuai reached the semifinals at the U.S. Open in 2014 but until Zheng’s emergence this year, China hadn’t produced a top singles player since Li, despite Zhang Shuai reaching two major singles quarterfinals and winning two majors in women’s doubles. But Li has still inspired the next generation, as all of Zhang, Shang, Wu and Bu point to her as an icon; Zheng was starstruck after meeting Li at this year’s Australian Open. Chinese tennis experts make the case that without Li showing what could be achieved, these players might well not be in the position in which they find themselves. Zheng’s successes may end up having a similar effect. Her fame in the country has skyrocketed, and she called the atmosphere at her matches in Beijing “insane” at a press conference. China’s investment into tennis has extended outside its borders as the sport’s popularity has grown internally, and while the CTA still provides support for its players with things like training centres and physios, the development of the players coming through in 2024 has a distinctly international feel. Zhou Yi, Zhang Zhizhen, Shang Juncheng, and Wu Yibing in Shanghai. (Courtesy of Rolex Shanghai Masters) Zheng herself has lived and trained in Spain since 2019, while Shang moved to Florida at 11 and is a product of the IMG academy in Bradenton, Florida. Wu, having developed at Chinese provincial level, also signed with IMG after winning the U.S. Open junior title in 2017, while Zhang, who at 27 is more established than the other top Chinese players, moved to Croatia three years ago to work with Roger Federer’s former coach and the one-time world No 3, Ivan Ljubicic. Bu, meanwhile, has spent time at Juan Carlos Ferrero’s academy in Spain, alongside the great Carlos Alcaraz. He and Zhang still came up through the Chinese system, and his seemingly sudden emergence is one of the most interesting elements of this developing story. Bu, who sometimes goes by Bert, comes from an ethnically Mongolian family and was born in the Mongolian autonomous region in Xinjiang. His father died when he was five and, in keeping with local tradition, he stayed with his father’s family rather being looked after by his mum, who remarried. Advertisement Bu lived with his paternal grandparents, who wanted him to have a better education so sent him to Urumqi, the provincial capital of Xinjiang. He was educated at the SOS child village for children who have been parted from their families, where he was spotted by tennis coach Yong Luo. Yong helped him develop his game in Huzhou City, Zhejiang, and from there Bu thrived: he won the prestigious Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship under-14 title in 2016. He achieved a junior ranking of No 5 a few years later and started playing ITF events as a teenager. It was long assumed that Bu was an orphan because of his school background, but he still sees his mum and stepdad, as well as his grandparents who still live in the Mongolian autonomous region. “The path I have taken is different from others,” Bu has since said. His coaches from back then say he was always built different and phenomenally determined to succeed. The Covid-19 pandemic halted Bu’s progress, but last year he began to make strides, winning a first Challenger title in Seoul and a main draw match at the Shanghai Masters. He then stepped things up in 2024, recovering from an injury to qualify for the U.S. Open and then reaching the semis at both the Hangzhou and the China Opens. His long-term coach, Yu Jinxing, says a big element of Bu’s improvement this year has been in his mindset — trusting himself to play more aggressively and backing himself against the best players. In the last couple of weeks, he has beaten three current or former top-15 players in Rublev, Musetti and Karen Khachanov. Bu has also added the recently retired former world No 193 Li Zhe to his coaching team, who has been a useful sounding board for the pressures of being a Chinese player. Ricardo Ojeda Lara, a Spanish coach, is also part of the team, illustrating again the international dimension of this group of players. Bu looks increasingly comfortable at the net and enjoys working a crowd. He has cited Andy Murray as an inspiration. “I admire his resilience,” Bu told Chinese reporters. “Especially during the ‘Big Three’ era. His belief in success despite failures resonates with me.” Bu Yunchaokete (Buyunchaokete in Mongolian language) made history by reaching the semifinal in Beijing. (Zhe Ji / Getty Images) As a group, the players all have different styles and personalities. Zhang is tall (6 feet 4 inches/193cm) with a big serve and forehand. He has started achieving good doubles results this year as well, reaching the semis at the Australian Open and the quarters at Roland Garros — both with the Czech player Tomas Machac. Zhang also won a mixed doubles silver at the Paris Olympics with Wang Xinyu, losing to Machac and Katerina Siniakova in the final. Advertisement Shang is a lot smaller and plays a more tactical game, though he can be powerful and aggressive. A leftie, he plays with a lot of variety, including an effective drop shot, and to be one place off the world’s top 50 while still a teenager is some going. After beating Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong in Shanghai on Wednesday, he takes on Beijing champion Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday. Wu, who reached the Shanghai third round with a straight-sets win over Nicolas Jarry on Wednesday, is a very clean ball-striker, and when he’s on his game he’s great to watch, possessing exceptional placement and an ability to move his opponents around. Wu is close with his near-contemporary Bu, having grown up in the Zhejiang province where his compatriot moved to after being spotted as a tennis talent. The players are all pretty close with one another, with Zhang on hand to offer advice as the senior man, though he says the other players don’t need it. “We do interact with each other, send pictures to each other, and Bu also asks me whether I can help him get a concert ticket, and I said I would try,” Zhang said this week in a Shanghai press conference. “It’s amazing to have a lot of players, it’s a push for all of us,” Shang added in press this week. “We’re competing against each other in some ways, and also trying to encourage each other to play better tennis, so I think that’s a big improvement for all of us.” This quartet of players, plus 19-year-old wildcard Zhou Yi (who beat Yoshihito Nishioka via a retirement on Thursday and faces Frances Tiafoe next) meant China had a record five players in the Shanghai draw. Shang Juncheng is considered a hugely promising talent at just 19. (Emanuel Wong / Getty Images) Those on the ground say it’s all adding up to a feeling of anticipation in Shanghai, with good crowds expected — especially for the home players’ matches. “I never thought it would be so full in the centre court,” Zheng said of playing at the China Open on the weekend. It was full again for her three-set defeat of Mirra Andreeva, and no doubt will be the same for her semifinal against Karolina Muchova. The second week of Beijing and the first week of Shanghai fall during Golden Week, a Chinese national holiday in which people typically travel internally. Advertisement China still has plenty of development to do as a tennis nation, but the emergence of Challenger tournaments in the country and the Chengdu Open in the mid-2010s, as well as the new Hangzhou Open, have helped its profile and accessibility for players. It also has a lot of development to do in its relations with the tennis world. There is still a great deal of controversy around the country as a tennis nation in the wake of Peng Shuai’s disappearance after she accused the country’s former vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, of sexually assaulting her three years ago. The WTA then stopped hosting events in China, before returning last year, having been unable to sustain its boycott. Though the regular tour stops in the country have resumed, the sport’s relationship with China is still recovering, and while Peng retracted her accusations, the nature of that retraction and her subsequent retirement left unanswered questions. For the country’s male players, it feels like the next week or so in Shanghai presents an opportunity to capitalise on a wave of enthusiasm and build on the recent momentum they have generated. Then it’ll be about trying to make an impact at the Australian Open in January, with the chance to really elevate China’s profile in men’s tennis with a long overdue run at a Grand Slam. (Top photo: Bai Xuefei / Xinhua via Getty Images)
