by sportswriters Li Bowen and Yue Wenwan

BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- After a season of historic breakthroughs and unprecedented attention, Chinese tennis spent much of 2025 plagued with injuries at the elite level while a young generation of players began to make its mark.

ELITE PLAYERS STRUGGLING WITH INJURIES

2024 Australian Open finalist Zheng Qinwen suffered a shock second-round exit in Melbourne in January, later revealing she had played through an elbow injury.

The problem lingered throughout a fragmented campaign. Zheng's match count fell from 78 in 2024 to just 41 in 2025. She underwent surgery on her right elbow after Wimbledon and was sidelined for two months. Her China Open comeback ended with a recurrence of the injury, forcing her to withdraw from the Wuhan Open, the Ningbo Open and China's 15th National Games.

Despite the setbacks, Zheng still produced standout moments. She claimed her first career victory over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets at the WTA Italian Open, reached the French Open quarterfinals for the first time, and advanced to the semifinals at the Queen's Club Championships.

Other Chinese hopefuls also grappled with inconsistency. Wang Xinyu, the country's second-highest ranked player, suffered a run of first-round exits before rediscovering her touch on grass at the WTA 500 Berlin Open, where she beat four top-20 opponents, including American star Coco Gauff, en route to the final. Veteran Zhang Shuai climbed back from outside the top 200 to finish the year inside the top 100.

On the men's side, injuries disrupted the seasons of Zhang Zhizhen, Wu Yibing and Shang Juncheng, leaving Bu Yunchaokete as the highest-ranked Chinese player at world No. 122.

"The physical toll and subsequent injuries from high-intensity competition during the 2024 Paris Olympic cycle are facts we cannot ignore," said Bai Xilin, director of China's Tennis Administration Center.

"However, we must also clearly see the lack of overall depth in our talent pool. When top players slide, other players are not yet strong enough to offset the fluctuation. We need to continue improving the comprehensive strength and thickness of our roster," he added.

A YOUTH MOVEMENT EMERGES

While elite players struggled for fitness, a new generation began to make its mark.

At the 15th National Games tennis competition in Zhuhai last month, emerging talents including Qu Yihan, Geng Xinle and Zhang Ruien displayed solid fundamentals and tactical flexibility.

"I found some very good junior players... some playing even better than I did at their age," said Zhang Zhizhen.

In the Under-18 category, 15-year-old Sun Xinran won the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships singles title and the IMG Academy International Tennis Championships doubles title. In the U12 category, He Rui and Zou Fangqiao captured the boys' and girls' singles titles respectively at both events.

Most of the 25 Chinese Tennis Association players entered in the U12 and U14 categories at the two major junior tournaments reached the round of 32 and eight advanced to the singles quarterfinals.

"This is a vivid snapshot of our reserve talent scale. The depth of our youth ranks is continuing to grow," Bai remarked.

BOOMING MARKET AND PARTICIPATION

Even without major silverware on tour, tennis fever in China shows little sign of cooling.

The China swing, running from September to November across nine cities, generated 250 million yuan (34 million U.S. dollars) in ticket revenue and drove more than 16 billion yuan in related spending, including tourism and accommodation.

The China Open in Beijing alone produced 88 million yuan in ticket revenue, while merchandise sales exceeded 12.5 million yuan.

"The China swing has further enhanced the cohesion and international influence of Chinese tennis," Bai said.

According to data released in April, China's tennis-playing population has surpassed 25 million, up 28 percent from 2021, while the number of courts has climbed to nearly 54,000.

In Wuhan, Hubei Province, club owner Wang Chengpeng expanded from one venue to five this year to keep pace with demand.

"We are bullish on the Chinese market," said Wang. "Tennis has strong social attributes, and more people are experiencing the fun of it." ■