Mumbai: Ling Zhang takes no time to recall who might have started the Asian revolution in the sport.
“Li Na, when she won the French Open (2011) and Australian Open (2014),” Hong Kong’s Billie Jean King Cup captain told HT on the promenade outside the Balewadi Tennis Stadium in Pune. Zhang was in India last week for the Asia/Oceania Group 1 stage of women’s tennis’ premier team event.
“For us, she is like an elder sister. For her winning the Grand Slam actually makes you feel that if she can do it, there is a way for me to do it too. It feels the dream is closer,” said Zhang.
But the most recent Asian to create a stir in a sport that remains centered around USA and Europe is Filipino teenager Alexandra Eala.
The 19-year-old, only a few weeks earlier, had beaten the likes of 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, world No.9 Paula Badosa, and world No.2 and five-time Major winner Iga Swiatek to reach the Miami Masters semi-final.
“She’s very good. I watched her play, whoa,” said Thailand’s Manachaya Sawangkaew, who, at world No.112, was the second highest ranked player in Pune. “We’ve seen Alex, seen how she’s fought for herself and her country. Everyone knows she’s from the Philippines. And in Thailand and Asia, it’s just going to get better.”
Na and Naomi Osaka, who represents Japan and has won two Australian Open and two US Open titles, are the only Asian women to have won singles championships in a Grand Slam event. Japan’s Kei Nishikori came closest to doing that among Asian men when he finished as runner-up at the 2014 US Open.
But just before Eala’s breakthrough, China had another world-beating talent in Qinwen Zheng. The 22-year-old reached the 2024 Australian Open final and managed to win gold at the Paris Olympics later that year.
“China took the decision to take tennis forward around 2010,” said India’s captain Vishal Uppal. “Every district champion is given full support and funding to travel wherever, in or out of China, to play tournaments. They can hire coaches and physios also if required. All these resources are there at their disposal.”
“The sponsors are the most important,” said Sawangkaew, who had reached the final of the WTA125 Mumbai Open in February. “They have a lot of tournaments (in the country). They have a big team that travels with trainers, coaches and physios. So, they give their players a lot of support.”
With Europe and USA still hosting the bulk of the tournaments at all levels on the international calendar, Asia has a geographical disadvantage.
New Zealand, who qualified for the Billie Jean King Cup playoffs with India last week, has most of its upcoming players enrolled in American colleges in order to get a foothold in the sport.
Now ranked 15th in the world, Ben Shelton benefitted from playing several Challenger and Tour level events in the US, breaking into the top 100 without the 22-year-old leaving the country.
It also helps if you are based in Europe. “It’s a lot easier. It’s quick, you’re in a different country, you can play, lose, come back, train, go to the next tournament…” said Matt Hair, captain of the New Zealand team. “It makes it tough coming from the countries we come from. Geographically, we are in a tough space. And the finances are also difficult because it’s expensive to get over to Europe and stay there for a few weeks.”
To get around the problem, China is now building up a roster of flagship events held in the country for their players. This year, it is hosting two ATP 250 events in Chengdu and Hangzhou in September, followed by the ATP 500 event in Beijing and the ATP 1000 Shanghai Masters. Two WTA 1000 events are slotted in Beijing and Wuhan, the WTA 500 event in Ningbo followed by WTA 250 events in Guangzhou and Jiujiang. China will also hold the Billie Jean King Cup Finals this year.
By comparison, India hosts three ATP Challengers and the solitary WTA125 event, along with several lower-level ITF competitions – this too on the backs of the efforts from individual state associations rather than the national federation.
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