This summer season’s China tennis swing, that includes prestigious occasions just like the China Open and the ATP 1000 Shanghai Masters, shattered information as the game surges as one of many nation’s hottest.
The success of Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen at Paris 2024, paired along with her fast rise by way of the WTA rankings, has positioned tennis firmly within the highlight. The brand new star of Chinese language tennis additionally narrowly missed out on successful the WTA Finals in Riyadh, dropping in three units to Coco Gauff. Her surge of success is more likely to preserve the game within the public eye for years to come back.
Round 20 million folks play tennis in China, inserting the nation second globally in tennis participation behind solely the US. China’s Tennis Administration Centre director, Bai Xilin is aiming for 10 gamers of every gender within the ATP and WTA high 100.
This groundswell of participation and Zheng’s success is paying off commercially. Document attendances, spectacular ticket gross sales, elevated sponsorship income, and a surge in merchandise purchases throughout China’s main tennis tournaments point out rising fan engagement throughout the board.
It hasn’t been a straightforward street again to the highest after a pandemic, however the nation’s long-term funding in grassroots tennis is now beginning to repay. Persistence and strategic planning have been key to the game’s revitalisation, and China is seizing the chance with each arms.
The tournaments
September and October are good for tennis in China, because the climate is gentle and the nation celebrates its Nationwide Day holidays. This era has grow to be synonymous with the China Tennis Swing, which has enormously benefited from the festive environment. Tournaments such because the China Open and the Rolex Shanghai Masters have capitalised on the Golden Week vacation, attracting spectators from each megacities and rural areas.
For instance, the Rolex Shanghai Masters noticed over 220,000 spectators attend in particular person, with 70 per cent of attendees coming from exterior of Shanghai, in response to organizers. The occasion itself featured vibrant sponsor zones, tennis-themed actions, and unique merchandise that resonated with followers, leading to gross sales exceeding $138,000 per day.
The match’s success wasn’t nearly tennis. Particular ticket promotions like “Ticket & Journey” allowed spectators to get pleasure from cultural experiences, just like the Huangpu River Cruise and an exhibition of historic Egyptian artifacts on the Shanghai Museum.
Equally, the 2024 WTA Wuhan Open recorded a historic excessive in attendance, with greater than 180,000 tennis followers attending – an 80 per cent enhance from 2019. The China Open additionally noticed large success, surpassing $11m in ticket gross sales, a 60 per cent enhance from the earlier yr. Each occasions set information for attendance and ticket gross sales, displaying the rising reputation and financial impression of tennis in China.
China’s quickly rising tennis infrastructure is one other key contributor to the game’s success. With 49,767 tennis courts (second highest globally), a burgeoning tennis inhabitants, and 98 worldwide tournaments hosted throughout 48 cities in 2024, China has confirmed to be a hub for worldwide tennis exercise.
Star energy
The rise of Chinese language tennis stars has performed a crucial function in capturing the nation’s consideration and elevating the game. Main the pack is Zheng Qinwen – dubbed ‘Queen Wen’ by her followers.
Zheng has single-handedly raised the game’s profile in China, in addition to bringing her nation’s repute again to the highest of the world tennis desk.
A fierce competitor on the court docket that gained Olympic gold in Paris, Zheng can also be proving simply as profitable off it, touchdown profitable offers with manufacturers comparable to Nike, Gatorade, McDonald’s and Lancôme.
At simply 22 years previous, it isn’t unreasonable to count on Zheng will land a grand slam win within the coming years. And if that occurs, a wave of tennis hysteria will undoubtedly sweep the nation – because it did when Li Na gained the French Open in 2011.
Zheng is hoping to observe in Li’s footsteps on and off the court docket. Li was China’s first tennis celebrity, successful a complete of three grand slams and attracting a variety of blue-chip manufacturers comparable to Mercedes-Benz, Rolex and Haagen-Dazs. Like Zheng, Li was additionally kitted out by Nike.
Li’s achievements made tennis a beloved sport throughout China and blazed a path for gamers like Zheng, who’s now looking for one other stage in her play to constantly beat the likes of Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
If she will be able to obtain that, Zheng might grow to be the only largest star in a rustic predisposed to the worship of sporting icons.
A nation of icons
With no sturdy heritage of staff sport fandom in China, particular person athletes comparable to tennis gamers have the room to seize the general public’s creativeness en masse. As well as, the game itself interprets nicely to the Chinese language public, who’re well-versed in sports activities comparable to desk tennis and badminton.
This, mixed with the extra world attraction of tennis, has created a fertile floor for brand new stars to be born. Gamers like Zheng are able to attaining demigod standing in a rustic hungry for world sporting success, and tennis can present this like only a few different sports activities.
China now has 5 gamers within the WTA’s high 100 – the nation’s ladies have been way more profitable than the boys, with Zhang Zhizhen the highest-ranked ATP participant at forty seventh.
However a groundswell of younger gamers – pushed by big participation ranges – might revolutionise each units of rankings in years to come back. And if Zheng can convey house a grand slam, the variety of these gamers will surge manner past 20 million.
