'Queen Wen', world stars turn center court into holiday attraction

Sold-out venues, practice courts swamped with enthusiastic fans and long lines at food and beverage booths — the China Open tennis tournament has emerged as one of Beijing's hottest holiday attractions as the sport's surging popularity takes the Chinese capital by storm.

Call it the "Queen Wen" effect if you will, public admiration for the racquet sport has increased manifold following Chinese women's tennis ace Zheng Qinwen's historic gold-medal finish at the Paris Olympics in August.

Zheng, who has earned the royal sobriquet from her growing legion of fans for her confident and aggressive style of playing, continued to ride her winning momentum on Wednesday to beat Amanda Anisimova of the United States in the fourth round at the China Open to reach her home WTA1000 tournament's quarterfinals for the first time, garnering enormous public interest.

With her second straight win against Anisimova, a 2019 French Open semifinalist, following her first at the US Open over a month ago, Zheng — the current world No 7 — has won 19 of her past 21 singles matches since her opening-round exit at Wimbledon. Her amazing run includes her successful title defense at a clay tournament in Palermo, Italy, the gold in Paris and a quarterfinal appearance at the US Open.

The new poster girl of Chinese women's tennis, despite a glittering field also including all the available men's stars at the concurrent ATP event, has proved to be the biggest crowd magnet of the combined tournament.

China Open organizers announced that Zheng's second-round win against Russian qualifier Kamilla Rakhimova drew a tournament-record single-day attendance of 39,000 on Saturday, even with three days to go before the National Day holiday break.

A first-come, first-served media ticketing policy, normally reserved only for finals, was activated for the first time for a second-round match on Saturday, due to the high demand from a record number of journalists, photographers and broadcasters — exceeding 400 — covering the event and Zheng in particular.

"The atmosphere was insane. I never thought it will be so full in the center court," Zheng said of the cheering capacity crowd at the 15,000-seat Diamond Court after her second-round win last week. "Honestly when I played last year in China Open, I remember it wasn't that full. Today, I see there's nearly no empty seat. So I enjoy a lot to play back in China Open this year."

The star power of "Queen Wen" is indeed real and happening. On Monday, her third-round win against Argentina's Nadia Podoroska ended up being the most-watched tennis match on TV so far this year, excluding the Olympic programs, with over 24 million viewers tuning in during live broadcasting, according to China Central Television.

The much-improved collective performance in Chinese men's tennis has also contributed to the once-niche racquet sport's current mainstream status.

Having been overshadowed by the success of Chinese women's tennis on the global stage for decades, Chinese men's tennis celebrated a series of impressive runs by young hopefuls at home tournaments this past fortnight.

Last week, teen sensation Shang Juncheng claimed Chinese men's first professional singles title on home soil at the ATP250 Chengdu Open.

Buyunchaokete, 22, another rising star in Chinese men's tennis, kept the momentum going by fighting his way into the final four at the ATP500 level for the first time in Beijing, only to be stopped in the semifinals on Tuesday by world No 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy.

Sinner, as defending champion in Beijing, lost to Spain's four-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-7 (3) in a seesaw final on Wednesday that lasted for more than three hours.

With a more balanced prowess achieved at the elite level, tournament organizers predict that the tennis boom inspired by retired women's legend Li Na's two major wins at the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open will only grow stronger in the new era.

"It's a huge advantage (of a home tournament) for spectators to have a chance to see the Chinese players in action," said Lars Graff, China Open's co-tournament director, before this year's event.

"They're doing very well internationally, and now they're coming home to play. I think that tennis is booming right now in China," added Graff, a former vice-president of the ATP Tour.