With a growing list of international stars giving Tokyo 2020 a miss, China's patriotic tennis aces have embraced the pandemic-hit Games as an opportunity to emulate their predecessors' Olympic success.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are among a host of top players to have opted out of the Olympic tournament.

Some, like Federer, have cited injuries or a desire to stay focused on the professional circuit, while others have blamed concerns over the health risks and restrictions mandated by organizers. "It's really tough with these restrictions. It puts a lot of pressure on you," Canada's world No 10 Denis Shapovalov said at Wimbledon earlier this month.

China's finest, though, did not hesitate to answer their country's call, even at the cost of ranking points and prize money from the tour events they will miss.

"Whenever and wherever we have the opportunity to represent our country, it's a no-brainer, especially when it comes to playing at the Olympics," Chinese women's No 1 Wang Qiang said before the national team left for Tokyo on a chartered flight on Sunday.

"Mentally, it's a great honor and perhaps more pressure. But tactically, I will just approach the Olympics the same way as I do for any of the tour events," said the world No 47.

"It's still tennis at the end of the day. So we just focus on making every day count in our preparations and try to give all we have on the court."

Wang is joined in the 64-player women's singles draw by 53rd-ranked teammate Zheng Saisai. Two pairs－Yang Zhaoxuan and Xu Yifan, and Duan Yingying and Zheng－will represent China in the 32-team doubles tournament in Tokyo. No Chinese men have qualified for any tennis event.

Observing a vigilant pre-Games health protocol devised by the Chinese Olympic Committee, all five players pulled out of the grass-court season in early June to return home and train together in Rizhao, Shandong province.

Missing out on tour-level events for a month risks a drop off in consistency, but Chinese players reckon that they can never be too careful while the pandemic threat remains.

With four days to go before the delayed Games open on Friday in Tokyo, COVID-19 infections have been surging in the Japanese capital, with organizers on Sunday reporting that two athletes and a team colleague had tested positive in the Olympic Village.

"Under the special circumstances of the pandemic, it's necessary to give up some tournaments to stay safe together and make sure we head to Tokyo healthy and prepared... so our national duty won't be jeopardized," said Zheng, who will appear at her second Olympics after playing doubles with Xu at the 2016 Rio Games.

To better facilitate the preparations, the Chinese Tennis Association refurbished the training center in Rizhao, a city with a similar climate to Tokyo, by laying the same surface as the Olympic courts and upgrading services for fitness, rehab and nutrition.

The tennis action in Tokyo is scheduled for July 24-Aug 1, with China aiming to spring some surprises and even step onto the podium.

"Our target is to raise our national flag on the court at the Olympics," said national team head coach Yang Weiguang. "We are confident knowing that we've done what we can to prepare for the event. We will give our utmost to compete for our goals."

In terms of prestige, the four Grand Slams remain more important than the Olympic tennis tournament. Yet, 17 years ago, Li Ting and Sun Tiantian's women's doubles gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games proved to be a game-changer for the sport in China.

Triggered by that breakthrough, the sport has since flourished in China, with more tour-level tournaments being staged and Chinese players enjoying greater success on the court－most notably Li Na's two major wins, at the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open.

However, with no Chinese players managing to progress beyond the quarterfinals, in either singles or doubles, at the previous two Games, more Olympic success would be a timely shot in the arm for tennis in the world's most populous nation.

Head coach Yang is hopeful both doubles pairs are well-equipped to deliver, having played regularly together on the tour.

"Our approach is to combine power on the baseline with agility at the net," said Yang.

"Both of our pairs fit in the combination and have proved that they can be competitive once the chemistry is working."

Xu, a doubles specialist, teamed with Yang Zhaoxuan to win gold at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, while Zheng and Duan reached the 2019 French Open final－China's best run at a major in recent years.

The women's singles draw, meanwhile, is wide open following the withdrawals of a long list of stars, including 23-time major winner Serena Williams, German star Angelique Kerber, 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada, and Romania's two-time Grand Slam champion Simona Halep.

China's top ace Wang hopes to maintain her recent momentum with a deep run in Tokyo.

"I spent a long time in the first half of this season to get my game and confidence back after a long break from the tour last year due to the pandemic. I just want to keep it going at the Olympics," said Wang, who reached a WTA final in Parma, Italy in May.

Wang attributes a large part of her improvement to the guidance of new coach Pat Cash, the Australian legend who began working with the 29-year-old in January.

"He's always positive, encouraging me to look at the bright side of not just tennis but also life off the court," said Wang. "My game gets more versatile and aggressive under his watch."

With Cash unable to travel to Tokyo, Wang said the 1987 Wimbledon champion will keep a close eye on her performances at the Games and offer timely tips for her to further improve her serve and shot variety.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)