Confident, aggressive and never mince words on their ambitions. China's next-gen tennis aces have set the hopes high for more major breakthroughs after making their presence felt on the world stage over a year of progress in 2022.

Highlighted by their deep runs at Grand Slam tournaments and rapid climbs on world rankings, a group of youngsters has carried Chinese tennis into a new era with their history-making performances over the past season boding well for a brighter future.

Leading the youthful surge was women's phenom Zheng Qinwen, a 20-year-old rising star, who was awarded the Newcomer of the Year by the Women's Tennis Association last month for her breakout 2022 campaign.

Starting from world No 143 at the beginning of last year, Zheng soon captured the world's attention by fighting into the fourth round at the French Open in May, followed by back-to-back third-round appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open before reaching her maiden WTA tour-level final in Tokyo in September to become the first Chinese teenager to do so.

The strong upswing in her first full season on the WTA circuit saw Zheng break into the world's top-25 in October, also the first Chinese teen to do so, after moving up over 100 places to complete one of the sharpest rises on ranking last year.

Boasting a blistering forehand, strong serve and movement beyond her size, Zheng, a five-foot-10(1.78-meter) power hitter, produced a string of giant-killing upsets last year, such as her second-round win over Romania's former world No 1 Simona Halep at the clay major in Paris and a three-set defeat of 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada in Toronto.

After a solid winter program at her off-season base in Barcelona, Zheng apparently has carried the momentum into the new season as she secured her seventh career win against a top-20 opponent on Jan 3 after beating 17th-ranked Anett Kontaveit of Estonia 2-1 in the opening round at a WTA event in Adelaide, Australia.

Buoyed by her season-opening win against a seeded player, Zheng set down a gauntlet to the rest of the tour that she has what it takes to further her inexorable rise.

"I always know that I have the level to beat all of them. It's just a problem I have to show it on court," Zheng, the current world No 30, said at her post-match press conference in Adelaide.

"A lot has happened last year. I've been playing all the Grand Slams, all the big matches. That gave me a lot of confidence and experience ready for this year to go fight for more.

"In 2023 I wish I can become a top 10 first, but it's a long way," Zheng said. "I still have a lot to improve, and I want to play match by match. Let's see what happens and when I can get there."

Zheng's rise to prominence eight years after two-time Grand Slam champion Li Na has excited the sport's community in China, where fans have been longing for the emergence of a new home star to cheer for. After winning two major singles titles at the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open, Li rose to international stardom while triggering a tennis boom in China about a decade ago before she was forced to retire in 2014 by a knee injury.

Those joining Zheng to bolster the women's revival also include veteran Zhang Shuai, another young prospect Wang Xiyu and No 119 Yuan Yue, who all reached new heights in their respective campaigns last year.

As China's top ace at world No 24, the 33-year-old Zhang renewed her personal best at the US Open in September by reaching the fourth round to become only the second Chinese to go that far at all the four majors after Li.

She also won her third career singles title at a WTA 250 tournament in Lyon, France in March, and made her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal appearance in four years in Cincinnati, United States in August, defeating four-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the opening round.

As another intriguing young prospect alongside Zheng, Wang, 21, advanced into the third round at last year's US Open to prove that her 2018 girls' singles win at the same venue was not just a flash in the pan.

Previously competing on the lower-level ITF circuit, Yuan stepped up her game in 2022 to compete on the WTA tour. She also fought into the round of 32 at the Flushing Meadows all the way from the qualifying rounds to mark the first time four Chinese women had made it that far at a Slam together with Zheng, Zhang and Wang.

Led by the quartet, seven Chinese women finished the 2022 season within the world top 100 and all of them have qualified for the main draw of the 2023 Australian Open next week, making it the biggest Chinese contingent in history at the first Slam of the year.

"I'm not surprised they can do this because in China (there are) so many great players," veteran Zhang said of Chinese women's impressive 2022 campaign.

"The last two years with COVID or National Games they didn't come and travel and join the tour. That's why the last two years it looks like Chinese tennis is going down.

"But it doesn't mean we don't have good ones. So for sure they did a great job and we have a lot and maybe more coming."

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