Repeated defeats, no Chinese players reached the quarterfinals at the Zhangjiagang Challenger

It is well known that since Shang Juncheng broke through at the Indian Wells Masters qualifiers in March 2022, Chinese male tennis players have achieved many milestones in Grand Slams, tours, challengers, and futures over the last three years. These accomplishments have caused many fans to falsely hope that Chinese men’s tennis might one day reach the Grand Slam semifinals. However, recent harsh realities at the Zhangjiagang Challenger have awakened these fans. So, what exactly happened? Today, this article will take you through it.

Before this week, China had hosted two challenger tournaments. At the Guangzhou Challenger, only Cui Jie advanced to the second round; at the Wuxi Challenger, although Sun Fajing won the title, only he and Cui Jie made it to the quarterfinals. These facts clearly show that the future path for Chinese men’s tennis remains long and challenging.

A few days ago, in the first round of the Zhangjiagang Challenger qualifiers, wildcard entrant Sun Qian was swept away by the sixth seed of the qualifiers, Japanese player Uchida Kaichi. Wang Aoran and Zeng Yaojie also suffered heavy defeats, halting their progress. Liu Hanyi limited Japanese player Kusuhara Yusuke to just five games throughout, preserving some pride for Chinese men’s tennis. The biggest surprise of this round was Chen Yuren, who, despite losing the first set, pushed the match to a decider; in the final set, while leading by a large margin, the former Australian Open Asia-Pacific wildcard champion from Thailand, Khaosiddhi, retired.

Unfortunately, in the final qualifying round, despite their best efforts, Chen Yuren and Liu Hanyi were both swept out by their opponents. Liu Hanyi even suffered a 6-0 set. Four Japanese players advanced through the qualifiers. Objectively, the strength of Japanese men’s tennis remains far ahead of China’s.

In the first round, wildcard player Xiao Lin’ang faced Japanese player Noguchi Rio. After reaching a set point in the first set, he was dragged into a tiebreak and narrowly lost it; in the second set, he was completely overwhelmed, watching helplessly as his opponent celebrated victory. Wildcard Mongolian player Terigele, despite losing the first set awkwardly, won the second to level the match. However, he ultimately lost in the deciding set, leaving with regret.

As for Cui Jie and Sun Fajing, although they won, both had to come from behind to defeat their opponents, advancing with difficulty. Winning only after playing three full sets highlights the lack of depth among China’s second-tier male tennis players, sounding a clear warning for Chinese men’s tennis. In the second round, Sun Fajing was decisively defeated by South Korean player Shin S, winning only four games throughout—a thorough loss.

This left only Cui Jie as the remaining Chinese male tennis player. It is worth mentioning that Cui Jie reached his first career challenger final earlier this January, showing some capability. However, in this match, facing relatively unknown Japanese player Isomura Shigeru, ranked much lower, Cui Jie lost after winning the first set and leading early, as his opponent came back to take two consecutive sets and the match.

Thus, after just two rounds at the Zhangjiagang Challenger, Chinese players had already been eliminated one by one. Yesterday, in the quarterfinals, Japanese players performed exceptionally well, occupying three of the four semifinal spots. From this scene, the Zhangjiagang Challenger looks likely to become a stage for Japanese players’ success. All of this indicates that Chinese men’s tennis still has a very long road ahead. That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)