China Becoming More Flexible In Player Development

Written by: Staff on 3rd January 2013

China Becoming More Flexible In Player Development

epa03519708 Li Na of China returns the ball to world number one woman tennis player Victoria Azarenka of Belarus during their tennis exhibition match at Hua Hin resort city, Prachuap Khiri Khan province, Thailand, 29 December 2012. EPA/PONGMANAT TASIRI |

China has increasingly become a force to be reckoning with in the tennis world, both as the host of important tournaments such as Beijing and Shanghai and also a place where pro players have begun to blossom.

While male players have lagged behind the women, China’s WTA players have more than made their mark with Li Na becoming a Grand Slam singles champion, Zheng Jie reaching major semifinals and Peng Shuai cracking the top 15 in 2011.

Part of the reason for that is that the Chinese Tennis Association has become more flexible and has given its tennis players more decision-making power, which is critical in an individual sport.

“We’ve done a good job over the past four years, but we still lag behind the world’s best in terms of professionalism,” said Sun Jinfang, who heads the Chinese Tennis Association. “Our traditional State-run system doesn’t work so well on the pro stage. We should improve it to meet the elite players’ demands and get more players exposure in the professional atmosphere.”

But the Chinese Tennis Association isn’t ready to completely trash its top down approach, especially when it omes to juniors.

“Our long-standing system isn’t bad but needs to be improved,” Sun Jinfang said. “We need it to keep working at the grassroots level as youth development costs a lot of money, which only the government can afford.”

©Daily tennis news wire

Topics: China Tennis news, Chinese Tennis Association, Li Na, Peng Shuai, Sports, Tennis, Wta, Zheng Jie reaching