Sideline Story
Chinese players make history at Wimbledon
A record number of 11 Chinese players participated at Wimbledon this year, including Zhang Zhizhen, who became the first seeded men’s singles player from the Chinese mainland since the Open era at the grass court Grand Slam. What does it say in China’s tennis development? Also in this episode, we touch on Novak Djokovic’s speedy return after knee surgery, as well as the challenges players face with Wimbledon so close to the Paris Olympics.
- Duration:
- 25m
- Broadcast on:
- 04 Jul 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
[Music] Hello and thank you for joining us on Sideline's Story, your destination for sports, news, analysis and discussions. I'm Brandon Yates and today we'll be discussing the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. We'll take a look at China's tennis progress, the return of Novak Djokovic, the dominance of a few stars and potential scheduling challenges with the upcoming Paris Olympics. I'll be chatting about these topics with my two fantastic co-hosts Yangguang and Tian Yu and Yangguang. I think every year Wimbledon delivers moments that are always momentous, but this year in particular for China is a very, very momentous year. We've got Zhang Jijin being the first man from the mainland being ranked at this tournament, which is a very big deal. And I think we also have a record 11 Chinese tennis players participating at Wimbledon this year. So I think that is a fantastic achievement and a great sign of progress being made with tennis in China. What are your thoughts about this incredible achievement? Yeah, it just tells the consistent improvement of Chinese tennis. I think the Chinese tennis scenario is undergoing the best time, even better than the time when Li Na was playing and winning Grand Slams. It seems to happen very quickly though because ever since I've been in China, I've tried to keep an eye on the likes of Zhang Jijin and a couple of the other stars. But there just seems to be a very fast growth of, obviously we know Zhang Jijin and Zhang Jijin were not the biggest stars, but there's a couple of other up and coming athletes just below them that are also very young. And they seem to have really accelerated their progress this year to a point where we're now seeing 11 Chinese stars performing at Wimbledon. So that growth from the top two stars to now having 11 that are competing and playing really well, that's a rapid growth. For me at least as an outsider, I suppose that growth seemed to happen almost overnight. Yeah, that's exactly what I'm going to say because in the Li Na era, we just had one phenomenal player, that's basically it. And she was like the marquee player that everybody was looking up to as the star of Chinese tennis and hopefully that would be the person that would propel the growth of all tennis in China. Yeah, we didn't have this large scale of a contingent that represents China, especially at Grand Slam events. So yeah, I think that just tells how Chinese tennis is improving these years, especially on the man's side. Zhang Jijin's growth is just solid. He's kind of a player that makes every step count in his career. I mean, he also fine-tuned his performances on different surfaces because previously, I knew he was a very good player on clay courts. Right, that's what he was quite well known for, right? Yeah, he'd made impressive runs at Madrid Open, at the French Open, but not so much on other courts. But this year, he's almost doing equally good on grass. That's the biggest surprise in him to me. Do you think that just comes from consistent performances and being able to play on different surfaces on a regular basis? Or do you think that him and his coaching team are fine-tuning his game for different surfaces? I think it's just a strategy of his team focusing on grass LCA because he didn't do that well last year. At the Hala Open, I had off Wimbledon at Walmart event. Zhang Jijin beat the like serve, the Neil Medvedev. That was a big one. That was one of the standout performances for me from Chinese tennis players this whole year. To reach the semi-finals, in the last four, he lost to Janik Sinha. He put up a good fight against some of it. He almost took the second set against the both, number one. So that was just an impressive performance. And considering it's a surface that he's not that comfortable on. So obviously, the increased amount of practice and focus on that particular surface has paid dividends. Absolutely. In the beginning of the year, Zhang Jijin sent the target from reaching the Grand Slam as a seeded player. And just at a halfway point of the season, he's made it. Mission accomplished. Yeah, it's fantastic to see. And you and I have had the chance to view him up close and personal. And earlier in the season or going back to last year, we saw some inconsistencies from him. We saw a little bit of a lack of maturity from him and maybe some nerves as well. And it seems like he really has worked on that side of his game as well. And I guess that comes with maturity. It comes from experience and playing on a regular basis and also fixing and identifying some problems that you may have. Tanya, from your side, what do you think about this momentous achievement of, you know, Zhang Jijin being ranked at Wimbledon and having 11 Chinese players at this prestigious tournament? I mean, yeah, I think it's remarkable. I think Chinese tennis has made some steady progress. Both in terms of the number of qualified players, but also the level of competitiveness. And into particular, man's tennis has been quite a big surprise for me. Zhang Jijin, like you said, Zhang Jijin has made some really solid improvements. I think it's two years ago, he was just struggling to go through the qualifying round of Wimbledon. And he was like ranking 281st in the world. And now, here he is, ranks as number 33 in the world. He just kind of... And on a... And on a... We've mentioned a surface that he's not comfortable with. Well, that's what we thought, but things have definitely changed. Yeah. And becoming the first seeded male Chinese player, a player from the Chinese Milan tournament. And his ranking has surged a lot. So we could see that he was... He has really come a long way since the start of this year from advancing from both the French Open and also the Australian Open to beating a top five player Daniel Medvedev in the ATP 500. And all of that progress and all of the improvements that he's made and all of the results that he's been getting against some of the world's greatest players. That's also been incredibly rapid along with the growth of some of these other Chinese tennis players that will be representing China at Wimbledon. Yeah, we've been talking about how much this Chinese squad of tennis players have been improving, but they have kind of fast track their improvements in recent years. I want to talk to some of their coaches and figure out how it's been done so quickly because obviously, for me, it really has happened over the space, like you mentioned, over maybe one or two years. With Zhang Juchen in particular, his rapid growth in particular seems to be the quickest. It seems like they pulled some kind of a trigger and their career just went on to the right trajectory. Look, I still think that the biggest star and prospect of Chinese tennis is Zhang Juchen Wen. And for some reason, we've seen her knocked out at the first round of Wimbledon. And I've mentioned this a couple of times when we've spoken about her in previous tennis-themed podcasts that she clearly has the talent. She's young and she still has some development to achieve. But I still think the mental side of her game is something that really needs to be worked on. She really does, at some points, seem to really bear the pressure that's put on her by fans and journalists and people that identify her as this world-class talent agree. And she just really seems to sometimes be greatly affected by those external factors. So, do you think that Yang Guang, her surprise loss in that first round match at Wimbledon had something to do with the mental side of her game? Or was there something else at play? Well, it was a big shock to me. Maybe the biggest shock in the opening round at Wimbledon. But it's such a slap in my face because a couple of weeks ago I said, Jun Xing Wen's consistency is just the excellence. But I think we all felt that. And I think she has displayed consistency throughout the last at least two years, I would say. And she's achieved some incredible feats, like getting to the final of the Australian Open and all of these other achievements and being in the top 10, et cetera, et cetera. And generally we've seen the mental side of things affect her when she gets to the knockout... well, the later knockout round, so, you know, quarter-final, semi-final, final. But the first round? Yeah, it's hard for her fans and for herself. I mean, Jun Xing Wen is a top player for sure. But she needs to understand that anyone can still beat her on the tour. And it's normal, even for the top players like Serena Williams, like Sviantek, they can experience opening rounds or second round accidents as well. But it's very rare though, right? Yeah, it's not something we see often. Yeah, I think I don't see this a pure disaster for her. Rather, it's a good lesson. It could be a disaster in the lead-up to the Olympics though, because I think mentally if that is the problem that she's experiencing, if she's going to have a huge confidence knock like this by being knocked out of the first round at Wimbledon, what kind of confidence is she going to carry into the Paris Olympics? That's a little bit concerning for me, for Team China. Yeah, but I would see this as a wake-up call for her, that if you cannot push forward or you just stay where you are at, then probably you will move backwards. I think it's just time to move forward. Just to forget about what happened in Wimbledon and focus on Paris. I'd agree. Tianyu, she mentioned that she was struggling with pain and no arm, and I think she also said she was having eye issues, so she had a couple of fairly reasonable excuses after the match to explain why her performance was so bad. But I mean, I think they were, if I'm not mistaken, 8 double faults. For someone that is in the top 10 of world tennis, I think in the first round, I wouldn't even call that rare. I would say that's inexcusable. But from your side of things and what you saw, what do you think happened in that first round match? Maybe, I think, maybe physical condition that you mentioned plays a role in the Israeli exit. But she has been enduring some inconsistency issue for quite some time. I think even though she has made some substantial progress by becoming a top 10 player, it's time for her to really, like Yangon said, take some time to do some reflection. It's real though, because she takes like 10 steps forward and we think, "Ah, this is the next big prospect. She's going to win a grand slam." And then all of a sudden, when we get the most excited about her, she takes a huge back fall, like getting knocked out of the first round at Wimbledon, where I thought she would be one of the contenders for the title. Yeah, maybe it's a great occasion for her to take some reflection and, you know, reinforce her areas of weaknesses. Her mindset seems to be like a big issue. She seems to be losing her concentration and tempo completely when she was falling behind or simply losing her advantage. She definitely seems to be a player that thrives on confidence. And if there's any sort of little knock to that confidence during a match, it really unsettled to more than any other player that I could think of that's playing currently. Yeah, we've seen that many times in her games, not only in this first round match in Wimbledon, but also the final against Appalenka. I think that's the mindset issue. It's something that she needs to deal with perfectly. Yeah, because in that final, we knew that it was incredible performances that got her there. And we knew she was coming up against a very tough opponent in Appalenka. But we also just, that loss for me wasn't, you know, a better player beating Junction when it was more like Junction when's performance let her down in that final. So it was kind of like it was a self-inflicted loss. That's how I felt about that particular final. And that's also kind of how this first round exit looked. Yeah, like you said, I think in that final against Appalenka, she was supposed to be playing like more pressure free because she was, came to the final as an underdog. Yeah, exactly. And in this Wimbledon first round, she was supposed to be more, play more confidently because she got a higher rank. Yeah, she should have been the Goliath and then her opponent was the David, but the tables were turned. Yeah, that's a little bit weird and she needs to take some time to think about that. How to adjust. Slow the sleeves down. Yeah, for sure. And speaking of players that have had time to think and deal with a couple of issues, Novak Djokovic is making his return to Wimbledon. And we've seen him struggle with a couple of issues, young Guang. Of course, we know he's aging and he might be struggling with fitness a little bit and may be on the decline in terms of his career. And of course, now he's making a very swift return from a knee injury, which in a sport like tennis can be highly impactful. So do you think that this return to Wimbledon so soon after that knee injury is a risk worth taking? I do think so. I don't know how bad injury was, but still it was a tall and meniscus in his knee. It sounds very severe. And also with grass, I think knee injuries are also and ankle injuries are particularly dodgy because you slide so much on that grass. And grass is so slippery. We've seen a couple of instances in the past. Yeah. He called the operation very successful and he said injury wasn't that bad. But I think he still should have guaranteed his body is 100% ready for Wimbledon, not only because of his age, but also the intense game schedule. Don't forget he's also had the Paris Olympics in sight. I guess if he is now playing at Wimbledon and he's got the access to the best doctors in the world and he knows his own body and he's been on the tour for so many years, you would assume that he and his team have agreed that he is fully capable of competing at Wimbledon. I don't think considering how many titles he's won, I don't think he would have taken the chance of not playing at 100% and potentially risking further injury. So my assumption would be he believes that he's at 100... Well, not 100%, but he's at least able to play to a certain level without being concerned about making the injury more severe. Yeah. We can't sneak into his answer to get his thoughts, but everyone knows the only desire, the biggest desire for Novak Djokovic is now the Grand Slam titles and the Paris Olympic title. As it should be, right? Yeah. That's why he would not miss any chance to go to those events and see the way in the fact that it might not be enough time for him to win those big titles. Yeah. Tiyanyu, with that in mind, like Yang Guang said, maybe he does see the clock is ticking and he might not get the chance to win another Wimbledon title, so maybe he's taken a risk here, maybe he's not as ready as he's made fans and journalists believe. What are your thoughts? Yeah. Of course, from the perspective of amateur, I would say the best solution here is to give your knees more time to recover. But as someone who has been playing tennis professionally and in top level for so many years... For decades, yeah. Yeah, for decades, I think Djokovic himself knows the best about his body condition. And I think just like Wang Yang Guang says, his desire to play is the most important factor. He... At Grand Slams. Yeah, at Grand Slams. I think it's... That's something that separates these top players from the rest, because they are willing to take risks in adversity. Like... Are they safe? They're best for Grand Slam tournaments. So we've often seen the likes of Medvedev and a couple of these other players win all of these ATP tournaments. And then at the Grand Slams, all of the regular suspects absolutely destroy them. And I think that in particular is what separates the greats from the up and comers, is their performances and their wins at Grand Slams. Yeah, they go all out in critical matches. But still, it doesn't feel right to me. I mean, I think he's risking himself with more potential injury problems, which might shorten his remaining career. I don't... I really don't want to see another case of... Not else, career being ruined by repetitive injury problems. But a lot of those injury problems that Nadal faced, I think, was when he played too many tournaments, whereas Jockovich, I guess, the smart thing that he's doing is that he does seem to be saving himself for Grand Slams. But he is maybe taking a calculated risk considering the timeframe that he's dealing with, for example, his age, and all of the incredibly important tournaments that are coming up, maybe. But two weeks after... And we are playing crazy. Yeah. And Yang Guang, some of those players that are breathing down his neck, Janik Sinner, Carlos Alcaras, I think those are the ones where he looks at and thinks the clock is ticking. I need you to try and grab one or two more Grand Slams before these guys come and just completely take over. But at this point, have Janik Sinner, Carlos Alcaras and maybe one or two others already taken over? Are they the new dominant force in men's singles? I think so. I think it's like the beginning of the new version of Roger Federer against Raffa Nadal. It very much looks like the... That's a big statement to make so early on considering how many titles those two won. In two years, you will be with me. Maybe they'll also just make one or two adjustments in their diet or something and completely dominate men's tennis. Or maybe we'll see Jocka, which is knee absolutely blowout. I hope that doesn't happen. I really hope that he has taken a risk that's fairly well-calculated. Yeah. To me, it feels very much like the duel between those two latinarian names in the very early stages. The very, very early stages. Exactly. They've got a long way to go. But with that in mind though, I think that those two in particular, Sinner and Alcaras, have achieved more in their early stages. Then we've seen from previous champions, the likes of Nadal, Jocka, and Federer. Agree. So I think that they are claiming titles a lot sooner than those others did. And I think that's remarkable. Yeah. And I do expect them, those two players to rule men's tennis in the coming years. Blinking the Grand Slam titles and providing us with classic clashes on the biggest stages. That would be written into history book. Tianyu, from your side of things, do you think that Sinner and Alcaras have arrived? Are they now the kings of men's singles? Or do they still have to bide their time and maybe see the likes of Djokovic win one or two more Grand Slam titles? Yeah. We can agree that Sinner and Alcaras have been in the vanguard of the new generation players. Alcaras, this defending champion of Wimbledon and Sinner came to this tournament with really fantastic forms. Having just won his maiden grass court title. But the only question is that whether or not they can reach the lasting level of competitiveness of the big three players. The consistency, right? Yeah. And to really achieve their feet of the big three, I think both of them need to show more consistency and simply go on and win more titles. I think they've already shown signs of consistency. We just need to bide our time, I suppose, as fans and as journalists. And so do they to see if they can attain that sustained consistency that some of those names were able to achieve literally for decades. Which is kind of a once in a generation sort of happening. And I think that Sinner and Alcaras have the potential to achieve something like that. And they have shown signs of that, but it is very early days. But the signs are promising. I know fans miss the time when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are competing together on the tour. Many fans do. But I think fans also need to move forward. I think they're ready to move on now. They're tired of seeing these guys with busted knees going out there and struggling with busted backs and crawling all over the court and really showing their age sometimes. I think they're ready for the young guns to take over the old guard. Well, appreciating what old guns did. They need to value what the young guns have done. For sure. I mean, Janik Sinner is such a phenomenal player. Watching his game is like watching a match with 1.2 times speed. He's serious to that super fast speed. He's quite unassuming. He doesn't seem like this deadly world-class athlete, but when he's out there on the court he shows incredible play, incredible aggression, skill, stamina, technique. He really is a phenomenon. A gentle killer. Yeah, a silent killer. But an amazing player. It doesn't look Italian either. It's amazing. When I heard he was Italian I was quite surprised. And Alcaras, I don't think his opponents know what he would do next in every possession of the game. He's been a little bit less consistent than Sinner, I suppose. What's like up and down? Yeah, but I see him as a natural talent. Oh, for sure. Yeah, even if you are a mind reader, you can't expect, you can't predict what his next move would be. I don't think he knows himself. He just lasts the game flow. He lets his talent just take over. And I think that's bad though. Like you mentioned, some of those battles going forward between Sinner and Alcaras could be really interesting. But sticking with this year, of course, you know, it's an Olympic year, the Paris Olympics on clay court. I think that's going to be amazing to watch for tennis fans. But it is so close to the Wimbledon championship. So that's scheduling, I think particularly with older players, is going to be quite complicated. Do you see some potential problems there for certain players, young one? Yeah, first of all, they need to deal with the fatigue. Yeah, I do expect the top players to go quite deep at Wimbledon. That means there will be less than two weeks to rest before the Paris action begins. And the second challenge, they need to be adapted to the new surface. Because the Olympics tennis events are returning to the clay courts for the first time in 32 years. Completely different to grass, literally chalk and cheese. The mode of the players action this year would be like adapting to clay, then to grass, then grass back to clay. So it's difficult transition. Doesn't sound like something that's good for the knees, chocolate. Exactly. Yeah, sounds like the worst thing you could do for your knee, actually. But Tianyu, do you anticipate any problems there besides the fatigue and, you know, dealing with the changes in surfaces? Do you think that some of the younger players maybe might struggle with having two such big competitions being so close together in terms of scheduling? Yeah, there's only like 12 days between the Wimbledon final and the Paris tournament. Crazy. And playing an extra tournament in already packed summer is really going to leave these players more vulnerable to injuries. And also, like you said, it's going to be taking place on clay. And it's just throwing off the natural season clay to grass, to hot courts. It's like two grass lamps in one month. Yeah. And beyond the physical, I think, again, we go back to the mental. Dealing with those changes mentally is probably also quite taxing. Yeah. Yeah. But speaking of the changing surface, court service, I'm thinking of Nadal. Nadal maybe could have, could expect some good results from him. Because he was just quits, just quits Wimbledon and focuses. Yeah, another uncle performing at the top levels. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Focus. Oh, his efforts on Paris. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe it's time to expect. He could be surprised. And I think as Wimbledon progresses and as we get to the Olympics, I think we're going to see plenty of surprises. But regardless of what happens, I think we are in for some seriously exciting tennis. As the weeks progress. But that's all we have time for on this week's episode of Sideline Story. Thank you so much for joining us. And of course, we will be back next week with our latest topic and we'll see you then. [MUSIC]
A record number of 11 Chinese players participated at Wimbledon this year, including Zhang Zhizhen, who became the first seeded men’s singles player from the Chinese mainland since the Open era at the grass court Grand Slam. What does it say in China’s tennis development? Also in this episode, we touch on Novak Djokovic’s speedy return after knee surgery, as well as the challenges players face with Wimbledon so close to the Paris Olympics.