Bittersweet victories for China’s tennis stars at Melbourne

China’s tennis stars reached new career heights, only to suddenly fall out of the running, during the Australian Open last week.

17-year-old Shāng Jùnchéng 商竣程 made history as the first Chinese male to win a match at the Australian Open, defeating Germany’s Oscar Otte over four sets (6-2 6-4 6-7(2) 7-5). The victory made Shang move 50 places forward in the world rankings, to a new high of 144.

“I’m a little surprised that it came this fast,” Shang said after the match. “I think it’s all the hard work from my team and myself that paid off. I’m just nothing else but excited about what’s coming next.”

Shang, who trains in Florida, was unable to repeat the heroics in the second round, losing to American Frances Tiafoe, the 16th seed, in straight sets.

In the women’s draw, 87th-ranked Zhū Lín 朱琳 had a heroic run, winning the hearts of the Australian crowd after she defeated Greek Maria Sakkari (sixth in the world) in the third round.

Zhu allowed her emotions to overcome her after claiming the biggest win of her career. “Is this real? Am I in a dream?” she said through tears of joy.

In the next round, Zhu had a grueling match against two-time Australian Open winner, the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. The two played for two hours and 40 minutes, with the Belarusian outlasting Zhu in a match that finished after 2 a.m.

Meanwhile, China’s top-ranked player, Zhāng Shuài 张帅, also reached the fourth round after easing past Croatia’s Petra Martic and American Katie Volynets. It was there that she fell to Czech Karolina Pilskova 6-0, 6-4.

Zhèng Qīnwén 郑钦文was unable to build on her positive momentum, falling in the third round to the unseeded American Bernarda Pera in straight sets.

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F1 confirm Shanghai GP cancelation

Formula One confirmed there will be no Shanghai Grand Prix this year, after releasing the final calendar for the 2023 season.

China has been missing from the calendar since the outbreak of COVID-19. There had been hopes that China would return this year following the country’s abandonment of the COVID-zero policy.

Yet, the policy change came too late for the racing series, and F1 was unable to reverse the initial 2022 decision to cancel the race. The racing series relies on its meticulous logistics operations, planned months in advance, which ship parts, people, and cars across the world.

The news is a blow to Chinese race organizers, who had been engaged in talks with F1 to still host the race, which had been pencilled in for April 16.

Despite the four-year absence from the F1 calendar, at the end of last year the Shanghai International Circuit extended its contract with F1 until 2025.

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Other Stories:

Ten suspended Chinese snooker players charged with match-fixing offenses (The Guardians)

Blizzard’s China divorce is an ugly one (Sports Illustrated)

Eileen Gu golden again in World Cup halfpipe (The Globe and Mail)

China’s football crisis: what happened next after COVID struck? (The Guardian)

The China Sports Column runs every week.