Tag: chinese tennis

Following her 6-0, 6-3 win over France’s Oceane Dodin in the fourth round of the Australian Open on Monday, Zheng Qinwen has emerged, in terms of both ranking and form, as the front-runner to reach the final in Melbourne this week. The lopsided top section of the draw, which has seen all the top seeds bow out early, has opened up an unlikely opportunity for the 21-year-old World No.15, who has a big serve, topspin-laden groundstrokes, and aggressive playing style, to become the first Chinese player since Li Na to reach the latter stages of a singles Major. The achievement would be an early culmination of China’s recent tennis boom — where an emerging set of talented players of a sport with increasing popularity have been given institutional support. Tennis enjoys unprecedented popularit...