Boom beyond the baseline

With sold-out venues, record attendances and a rising crop of young talent — China's tennis boom is taking the sports sector by storm, delivering huge wins on and off the court.

Many had predicted a surge after Zheng Qinwen's Olympic triumph at Paris 2024, and even as far back as 2011, when Li Na won Asia's first Grand Slam on the clay of Roland Garros.

Few, however, would have expected to see the sport's soaring popularity today, witnessed by Zheng's recent big victory.

As the global tennis calendar shifted to the Chinese part of the season, the 24-year-old peaked at the right time and right place. Zheng claimed the women's singles title at the China Open on Oct 11 in Beijing, beating Russian Mirra Andreeva in straight sets 7-5, 6-4, to become the first Chinese player to lift the trophy at a top-tier WTA 1000 event on home soil.

Zheng's second landmark win shed light on the sport's burgeoning profile in her home country.

Public interest in tennis has grown exponentially over the past decade, with more homegrown players entering the sport's elite ranks, more facilities being built, and international tournaments growing in stature.

The number of people associated with tennis in China exceeds 25 million, up 28 percent from 2021, with over 53,000 courts, according to the latest statistics released by the General Administration of Sport of China in April 2025.

From late September to early November, nine tournaments on the women's WTA and men's ATP tours form a busy run across seven mainland cities and Hong Kong. Players and fans call it the "China Swing" of the season.

The current tennis boom fits China's national push to develop the sports sector, particularly the sports entertainment business, into a new driver for economic growth during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).

Tennis, with its global reach, affluent fan base and marketable events, is a major contributor to that goal.

Zheng took pride in her on-court achievements further lifting the sport's popularity in China.

"I always knew how much I could inspire people after winning the 2024 Olympic gold medal," Zheng said after her China Open triumph.

"I felt like this win today, with the crowd supporting me a lot, was bigger than just for myself, because I'm always motivated here at the China Open. I want to show off my best tennis in front of them and to inspire the younger generation."

In front of a roaring capacity crowd at the National Tennis Center's Diamond Court, Zheng completed one of the toughest comebacks the women's circuit has seen in years. During a lengthy recovery from right elbow surgery, she had to overcome setbacks such as early exits from major tournaments and a sharp drop in her WTA ranking. At her lowest, she plummeted to No 160 in rankings, but after the China Open win she has climbed back to No 22.

The inspiring return of fan favorite "Queen Wen", also earned respect from the men players.

Spain's seven-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz, who was sidelined by a wrist injury for over four months this year, said he was impressed by Zheng's resilience.

"She missed a lot of important tournaments. She fell down the rankings. She had to play qualifying tournaments. So, the way she's coming back, it's unbelievable. I'm really, really happy for her," Alcaraz said during the ATP 1000 Masters tournament in Shanghai last week.

"She is doing great things. She's working really hard and I'm pretty sure it's not going to be the last big tournament she's going to win."

Men's rise lauded

China's men, who used to be overshadowed by the consistent success of the women on the professional stage, also made the headlines for their progress on home soil.

The Shanghai Masters, the only Asian event on the prestigious ATP Masters 1000 series, served up proof that the depth of Chinese men's tennis is growing, after Wu Yibing, Bu Yunchaokete and Zhou Yi all advanced to the second round of the tournament. It was the first time in the event's history that three home players had won their first-round matches.

Zhou, the youngest of the trio and a wild-card entry, made the deepest run. He stunned Italy's former world No 5 Lorenzo Musetti, the 24th seed, in a three-set thriller on Oct 9. It was the first time he reached the third round of an ATP tournament.

The 21-year-old, who's now ranked No 217 in the world, took pride in his Shanghai breakthrough even though he lost to the tournament's 2023 champion Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in his next match.

"I've prepared long and hard for this moment. I knew I would have my moment, and it all paid off," said Zhou.

Wu, the 2017 US Open boys' winner, rattled German top seed Alexander Zverev in Shanghai before falling in two close sets. His gutsy performance follows narrow defeats to Alcaraz at the US Open and Serbian great Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon this year.

"I've had multiple chances to play the best players in the world this year, and I think I showed myself, and also the world, that I can play great tennis," said Wu, 26, who won China's first ATP title in Dallas, Texas, in February 2023.

Citing the increasing number of tournaments in China and the improving results of young talents, Djokovic remains optimistic about the future of Chinese players.

"It's good to see the up-and-coming men's tennis players from China doing well," the 24-time major champion said before winning his seventh China Open title in Beijing.

"I think it's important for a country like China, which has really invested a lot in tennis over the past few decades, that there are multiple quality players, both men and women, competing at the highest level."

Records broken

The China swing of the men's and women's tours has attracted impressive turnouts at almost every venue while enhancing their appeal to sponsors and media partners.

Zheng's China Open campaign was a major drawcard. Night sessions on the Diamond Court featuring her exceeded 95 percent occupancy, with more than 12,000 spectators each time. The resale price of tickets for her final against Andreeva soared from 780 yuan ($117) to as high as 5,000 yuan.

Total ticket revenue for the China Open reached a record 132 million yuan, up 48 percent year-on-year, while on-site spending on licensed souvenirs and food and beverage reached 55 million yuan, an increase of 55 percent, according to tournament organizers.

The total attendance at the National Tennis Center surpassed 450,000, a year-on-year increase of 25 percent. Roughly 60 percent of spectators came from outside of Beijing, turning the tournament into a hot travel destination during the National Day holiday.

The Shanghai Masters, which only had a men's draw, registered a record revenue of 500 million yuan, with operating profit significantly rising, said Shanghai Juss Sports &Entertainment Group, the tournament's management and promotion company.

Although missing out on the holiday crowd after being pushed back a week on the tennis calendar, the tournament, which concluded on Sunday, attracted close to 250,000 spectators, almost matching last year's record turnout.

The strong attendances speak volumes for China's maturing tennis market and the sport's increasing commercial value, said Yang Yibin, chairman of Juss Sports &Entertainment.

"Our impressive turnout and the compelling business operations provide strong proof that the tournament has entered a mature, sustainable stage of development, which is not necessarily driven just by star power," said Yang.

"I still remember 1998, when we hosted the first professional tennis tournament in China, a lot of foreign players were afraid to come. Now we've become one of their favorite destinations on the tour," he said.

Perhaps the clearest sign of the event's maturity came on the final day.

With most of the crowd-pulling stars including Zverev, Djokovic and Alcaraz eliminated early, the 15,000-seat center court at Shanghai's Qizhong Tennis Center was still packed with enthusiastic fans. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina defeated his younger compatriot Rafael Jodar in the all-Spanish final.

Untapped potential

China's commercial tennis boom is being heard beyond the stadiums.

Beijing and Shanghai have both turned tennis festivals into drivers of urban consumption and tourism. Observers said this represents China moving from reliance on manufacturing of sporting goods to commercialization of sporting events and performances.

The China Open, for example, teamed up with partner hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and tourist attractions to offer ticket holders discounts to boost tourism revenue during the National Day holiday.

The initiative paid off. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports estimated that the tournament generated a direct economic impact of 2.59 billion yuan for businesses associated with the event.

In Shanghai, 46 commercial complexes in Minhang district, home of the Masters tournament, recorded combined revenue of 740 million yuan during the holiday period. Even though the tournament was delayed, visitors to the tennis showpiece contributed a great share to the total, according to the district's commission of commerce.

"I think we still have a lot more potential to tap into, studying the cases of more established events, such as the four Grand Slams. Tournament organizers should work closely with business partners to offer more entertainment products and services," said Wang Xueli, director of Tsinghua University's center for development of the sports industry.

She suggested organizers and governing bodies look at more convenient public transport, local cultural experiences, pop-up host city exhibitions and pre-tournament junior competitions as ways to attract bigger crowds.

Although still far from being an established tennis market, one of the sports supremos, Eno Polo, CEO of the ATP Tour, is bullish on its future in China.

"China is one of the biggest markets in the world, and having men's Chinese players hitting the top 10 would be tremendous for tennis globally," Polo said during the China Open.

"If you look at it from a commercial aspect, from a media aspect, that's what I would personally love to see.

"With tournaments continuing to develop in China, I think it's only a matter of time. For me, my dream would be having a No 1 Chinese player in men's professional tennis, which would be amazing, not just for China, but for the global market."

With sold-out flagship events, host cities banking the economic dividends and a pipeline of young talent emerging, the question is no longer whether China can host the world's best tennis, but how far it can rise.