Serving the nation with pride

China's tennis aces making big personal sacrifices to represent country at pandemic-hit Tokyo Games

Editor's Note: In the fifth installment of China Daily's Tokyo Olympics preview series, we take an in-depth look at the Chinese women's tennis squad.

With a growing list of international stars giving Tokyo 2020 a miss, China's patriotic tennis aces have embraced the pandemic-hit Games as an opportunity to emulate their predecessors' Olympic success.

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are among a host of top players to have opted out of the Olympic tournament.

Some, like Federer, have cited injuries or a desire to stay focused on the professional circuit, while others have blamed concerns over the health risks and restrictions mandated by organizers. "It's really tough with these restrictions. It puts a lot of pressure on you," Canada's world No 10 Denis Shapovalov said at Wimbledon earlier this month.

China's finest, though, did not hesitate to answer their country's call, even at the cost of ranking points and prize money from the tour events they will miss.

"Whenever and wherever we have the opportunity to represent our country, it's a no-brainer, especially when it comes to playing at the Olympics," Chinese women's No 1 Wang Qiang said before the national team left for Tokyo on a chartered flight on Sunday.

"Mentally, it's a great honor and perhaps more pressure. But tactically, I will just approach the Olympics the same way as I do for any of the tour events," said the world No 47.

"It's still tennis at the end of the day. So we just focus on making every day count in our preparations and try to give all we have on the court."