Zhang Shuai: China's next tennis superstar

The Chinese media is buzzing again with the name Zhang Shuai (张帅) as this Tianjin native takes home the tennis women's doubles champ title from the China Tennis Grand Prix in Nanjing (her partner was Sun Shengnan). The pressure is on for this 20 year old who is the face of China’s push into the world's tennis elite.

Earlier this year, Zhang Shuai became the lowest ranked player (no. 226) to beat a world No. 1 at the 2009 China Open, upsetting Dinara Safina 7-5, 7-6. Now ranked 160 in the world, Zhang Shuai’s goals are set much higher as she explains in a recent interview with China Sports Today: “I'd like to reach the top 50 in the world, but that's going to be pretty hard. I'll need to put in a lot of effort.”

With major wins behind her and the Chinese government supporting the growing number of Chinese tennis pros, Zhang Shuai reflects on the growth of tennis in China: “The situation for kids playing tennis today is much much better [than it was when I was a child]. They have a lot of opportunities to play, they can watch us play at these events and they can watch international tournaments on TV ... The pressure is smaller than before because when I was younger, only the best could reach the provincial team, then only the best of the best could join the national team, then just a few could get the opportunity to play in international tournaments. Today the young kids can attend more tournaments, and enjoy the sport more.”

As China begins to gain prominence on the international tennis scene, Zhang Shuai is a name to look out for.