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From Dalian to Perth

By Yu Yilei (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-05-01 07:24

Thirteen-year-old Chinese youth tennis player Lin Zhuofei practices his footwork during the Mercedes-Benz "Swing for the Stars" Junior Tennis International Clinic at the State Tennis Center in Perth, Western Australia, in February. The clinic is part of a junior tennis development program that aims to cultivate young talent in China. Ryan Mccarthy for China Daily

Tibetan girl Zhuoma Yangzong polishes her tennis skills during the clinic in Perth. Ryan Mccarthy for China Daily

Wealthy Chinese parents are spending big to support their gifted children who are looking for advanced tennis training abroad, Yu Yilei reports.

Lin Tao was bubbling with joy after witnessing his son, 13-year-old Lin Zhuofei, win the singles title at the opening stop of the 2011 Mercedes-Benz "Swing For the Stars and Tour 2020" in Guangzhou, a junior tennis development program which aims to cultivate young talent in China. The restaurant owner from Northeast China's coastal city of Dalian flew to the South Chinese city with his son for the event.

In February, his son, along with nine other children, traveled to Perth, Western Australia, to take part in the program's three-week international clinic, a collaboration between the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA) and Tennis West, the sport's governing body in Western Australia.

Lin Tao was eager to check out the outcome of the clinic.

"He is more mature and his tennis skill has improved a lot," Lin Tao said. "It seems he grew up all of a sudden."

This was exactly what Lin Tao had been expecting since he persuaded his son to pick up a tennis racquet four years ago. Before that, Zhoufei played soccer, a natural choice for a child growing in Dalian, a city with a strong soccer tradition, which has produced many top-level professional players.

However, Lin Tao soon found Zhuofei was not a good fit for that game as he was timid battling for the ball. He decided tennis, which does not require direct physical contact, would be a better fit for his boy.

Now the whole family supports that decision. Lin Tao let his son quit school and hired a private coach for him. He spends up to 200,000 yuan ($30,712) a year to cover the cost of his son and his wife, who accompanies Zhuofei full time.

"I want him to totally focus on tennis. I am glad that I've seen obvious improvement since he came back from Perth.

"Now I am thinking of sending him abroad to receive even better training," the father said.

For tennis in China, attracting parents like Lin Tao, a member of the growing wealthy middle class thanks to the country's economic boom, is significant. China's tennis has been dependant on the state-support system for decades, but the CTA has opened by letting some top-level players leave the system and has also encouraged diverse methods of nurturing young talent, including self-support - as in the case of the Lin family.

"Participation (in tennis) is obviously on the increase in China," said Joe McCarthy, a veteran coach with Tennis West who is the designated coach of the program.

"Maybe only one in 1,000 players is going to turn into a national-level player, but you have got to get 1,000 playing before you find that one."

Tennis has boomed in China in recent years, making Lin Tao's investment a good bet. In 2006, the year when Zhoufei switched from soccer to tennis, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi won the women's doubles title at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while Li Na made it to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon. At the same time, the Chinese men's soccer team did not even qualify for the German World Cup Finals.

Earlier this year, Li made a historic appearance in the women's final of the Australian Open, sending China into unprecedented tennis fever.

"I think my father is truly far-sighted," Zhuofei said after an exhausting training day at the State Tennis Center in Perth. "Now soccer and tennis are moving in different ways in China."

McCarthy said Li's influence will be enormous and inspire more Chinese children, just like the clinic members who arrived in Perth less than two weeks after Li's final appearance at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.

"I think she can be a great role model for the kids by having somebody at the elite level. It allows the kids to look up to somebody and strive to become a Li Na, especially the little girls."

Clinic member Zuoma Yongzong, a 12-year-old Tibetan girl from Shangari-La in Yunnan province, is one of them.

"After watching big sister Li I am now dreaming of becoming China's first Grand Slam champion," Zuoma said, sporting a big smile on her sun-tanned face.

After working with the Chinese children at his home base, McCarthy traveled to Guangzhou where he met more Chinese youngsters eager to become the next big stars.

"I am impressed," he said. "The enthusiasm is there (China). It's exciting.

"If you get more kids playing and if they get the right technical advice, it will only be a matter of time before China produces a Grand Slam champion."

(China Daily 05/01/2011 page11)