Will China win a men’s grand slam before US tennis ends drought? Michael Chang has his say
The former French Open champion and three-time Hong Kong Open winner expects to see progress from Chinese players in the coming year
The United States’ men’s tennis players appear closer to ending their 21-year grand slam drought than their Chinese equivalents are to breaking their nation’s majors duck.
But Michael Chang, the three-time Hong Kong Tennis Open champion, has backed China’s growing pool of stars to begin making an assault on major titles in 2025.
It is an indictment of men’s tennis on the mainland that Zhang Zhizhen became only the first Chinese player to be seeded for a grand slam, at this year’s Wimbledon.
Nonetheless, there are tentatively encouraging signs.
Teenager Jerry Shang Juncheng, a junior US Open runner-up in 2021, is tucked inside the world’s top 50 after winning his maiden ATP 250 title this year. Bu Yunchaokete, 22, claimed a number of notable scalps to reach the semi-finals of September’s ATP 500 event in Beijing and is world No 65. The more senior Zhang, 28, is world No 45, but had climbed to No 31 in July.
In contrast to the men’s slim pickings, Li Na won two major women’s titles – the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open – while Zheng Qinwen won Olympic gold in Paris this summer.
