Federer Teams Up With Ze Zhang
Federer Teams Up With Ze Zhang
No leading player has done more to promote the growth of tennis in Asia than Roger Federer. He has been traveling to compete in the continent for almost a decade and a half, formally opened Shanghai’s Qi Zhong Stadium in 2004 and has done exhibition tours with Pete Sampras in attempt to spread the sport’s frontiers. Now he is actually playing alongside a Chinese in the Shanghai Rolex Masters doubles event.
China is still a long way from emulating the female success Li Na has enjoyed on the women’s circuit with a male player but Ze Zhang, the only man from his nation ever to be ranked inside the world’s top 150 at singles, was invited by Federer to team up on the doubles court.
And the pair did even more to generate interest when they got off to an impressive start with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Kevin Anderson and Dmitry Tursunov. “I thought : ‘What could be really fun, different and cool here in Shanghai’?” said Federer. “This has such great potential here and I love playing here.
“I spoke to my agent Tony [Godsick], and he spoke to the tournament guys, Michael [Luevano] and Charlie [Charles H. Smith]. They mentioned what about if you play with a Chinese player. Especially as Zhang Ze is coming up, he’s really good. I said: ‘that’s perfect for me’ and I was excited about the idea right away.
“Then when I arrived here, they announced we were going to play doubles together, there was huge excitement. They were going to put us on center court on Monday. I thought, that’s great, that’s good for the game, good for tennis here in China.
“That’s kind of the ultimate goal, to partner up with a Chinese up-and-coming player and promote the game at the same time.”
And Zhang Ze, or Big George as he is known in player circles, was thrilled with the outcome. “Over the past few days, Roger and I practiced together,” he said. “He actually invited me to practice with him. He is easy-going, he’s nice, and fun. So we had very good communications. Then, of course, I learned a lot from him, not just the playing skills, but also the professionalism. I think I can be more professional.”
Topics: 10sballs, Li Na, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Shanghai, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News
Share this article:
Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:
10sBalls Top Stories
- No Key Biscayne, No Problem; New Site, Same Great Miami Open Tennis Event
- 10SBALLS SHARES FAVORITE EPA TENNIS PHOTOS Of 2018
- THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR ANY TENNIS PLAYER & FAN
- ATP MEN’S TENNIS • WILL IT MOVE FROM LONDON TO MANCHESTER OR TOKYO OR SINGAPORE? OR TURIN?
- ALIX RAMSAY WRITES TO “TENNIS SANTA CLAUS” WITH HER WISHES • ANDY MURRAY!
- CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS AT THE JACK KRAMER CLUB – DECEMBER 15 TO 22 2018 • UTR • ORACLE • AND AN AWESOME NEW TENNIS EVENT
- 10sBalls.com Shares Alix Ramsay’s Rambling On About Tennis and The Holidays
- ROGER FEDERER JOINED BY RAFA NADAL FOR THE 2019 LAVER CUP FESTIVITIES IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
- TENNIS PLAYERS’ UNION – IS IT NEEDED? BY MARK WINTERS
- Tennis News: Wilson’s Revolution Is Here – THE CLASH
- ROTTERDAM TENNIS TOURNEY DIRECTOR RICHARD KRAJICEK ANNOUNCES DAVID GOFFIN TO PLAY IN 2019 ABN AMRO
- JELENA VEMIC’S PHOTO GALLERY
- TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON • 10SBALLS REPORTS ON THE LAWN TENNIS WRITERS HOLIDAY LUNCHEON AT WIMBLEDON’S DEBENTURE CLUB
- 10sBalls.com Shares a Great Gift For A Tennis Player – The Functional Tennis Match Journal
- BNP PARIBAS TENNIS OPEN NAMED 2018 WTA PREMIER MANDATORY TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR FOR FIFTH STRAIGHT YEAR
In Case You Missed It
EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA
Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE
Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER
According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife
Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
RT @10sBalls_com: Federer Teams Up With Ze Zhang: No leading player has done more to promote the growth of tennis in Asia… http://t.co/jV…