Sawt Falasteen - Olympic champion Zheng hails China's tennis boom

Zheng became the first Chinese player to win an Olympic singles tennis gold when she triumphed in Paris, sparking an unprecedented wave of interest in the sport at home.

Tournaments in Beijing, Shanghai and other Chinese cities have played out in front of packed-out crowds in recent months, with local players enjoying unprecedented success.

Zheng is playing at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she started her campaign with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Japan's Moyuka Uchijima on Thursday.

The 22-year-old top seed said tennis is flourishing at all levels in China, not just the professional game.

"After I won at the Olympic Games, tennis started to be more popular in China," said the world number seven.

"Normal people started to know tennis as a sport.

"I heard right now in China it's tough to book a tennis court, and also tough to find a coach for tennis. Before it wasn't like that."

Zheng is not the only Chinese player enjoying success on the men's and women's tours.

Wang Xinyu and Zhang Zhizhen also came away from the Paris Olympics with medals, taking silver in mixed doubles.

Zhang and Bu Yunchaokete then contested an all-Chinese semi-final at the Hangzhou Open last month.

The 22-year-old Bu went on to cause a sensation at the China Open in Beijing, beating sixth seed Andrey Rublev in the quarter-finals before losing in the semis to world number one Jannik Sinner.

Zheng said professional success is having an impact on grass-roots tennis in China.

"All the parents think tennis is a really good sport, so they want their kids playing tennis too," she said.

Zheng arrived in Tokyo after losing to Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the Wuhan Open.

She faces Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-finals on Friday.

"I tried to explore more things in my game, try to go more to the net, be more aggressive compared to before," Zheng said after her win over world number 57 Uchijima.

"I think it's time to add new things to my game."

P.Tamimi--SF-PST