The surging collective strength of Chinese men’s tennis is turning heads at the top of the game with an unprecedented local contingent raring to make some noise at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Following his straight-sets opening win against India’s Sumit Nagal in Shanghai on Wednesday, China’s former US Open boys’ champion Wu Yibing celebrated his first ATP Tour win in over 13 months by writing down an implicit “F5” on the broadcasting camera, leaving even his most diehard fans wondering what he meant.

Bu Yunchaokete of China hits a return during the men’s singles semi-final match against Jannik Sinner of Italy at 2024 China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2024. (Photo by Du Xinyi/Xinhua)

Wu was marking a historic moment for Chinese men’s tennis.

Led by three top-100 contenders, five Chinese mainland players have entered this year’s Rolex Shanghai Masters, including two wild-card entries, making it the biggest ever Chinese representation at any professional tournament on the ATP Tour.

And Wu hopes this strength in numbers will only continue to grow.

“F5 is the ‘refresh’ button on a computer keyboard. I just hope all the five of us, or even more in the future, can renew our previous bests by outdoing ourselves here,” Wu said after beating Nagal 6-3, 6-3 on Wednesday, becoming the lowest-ranked singles main draw winner — he was ranked No 564 at the time — in the Shanghai tournament’s history. The win has propelled Wu to an ATP live ranking of No 441.

As the first Chinese player to be crowned a Grand Slam junior champion (New York, 2017), and the first to claim an ATP Tour title at the 2023 Dallas Open, Wu was supposed to spearhead the rise of the Chinese men under a central spotlight. Yet, a series of injuries, mainly a left foot problem that had bothered him for over 10 years, took a toll on his consistency, forcing him to take a number of long breaks over the past two seasons.

His retirement from back-to-back home tournaments over the past two weeks, first in Hangzhou and then Beijing, had left fans in doubt over his ability to compete during the highly anticipated Chinese season. Wu, however, eased those concerns with a convincing win in his first completed match in over five weeks.

When a physically ready Wu hits with confidence, his game is entertaining to watch.

By firing seven aces and racking up 25 winners, Wu dominated 83rd-ranked Nagal with his trademark barrage of powerful serves and lethal forehands, clinching his first win on the Tour since a first-round victory over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic at last year’s US Open.

The 24-year-old is eager to start anew, having recovered from surgery to repair his troublesome left foot following his appearance at last year’s Asian Games in his home city Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

“Indeed I’ve had more ups and downs than my peers in the beginning of my career, but I am still quite confident in my game when I am healthy,” said Wu, who reached a career-high ranking of No 54 in May last year, three months following his ATP250 title run at the Dallas Open in Texas.

“Everyone around me, my family, my team and friends, they all trust that I can still play excellent tennis. I just need to take better care of my body and have more consistent training.”

Joining Wu in the second round at the Shanghai tournament is teen sensation Shang Juncheng, who claimed a first Chinese ATP title on home soil at the Chengdu Open on Sept 24, and wild-card holder Zhou Yi.

Nineteen-year-old Shang, the current world No 51, rode his recent momentum to beat Coleman Wong of Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday to set up an eye-catching rematch against four-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz. Shang’s only previous meeting with the Spaniard, who just won the ATP500 title in Beijing, was in the third round at this year’s Australian Open, when Shang had to retire in the third set due to injury.

“I know that he has really good potential, really good tennis … I’m going to prepare as best as I can (against him),” Alcaraz said of Shang’s game at a pre-tournament news conference in Shanghai on Thursday.

Zhou advanced into the second round in Shanghai after his Japanese opponent Yoshihito Nishioka retired injured while leading 4-2 in the first set.

The never-before-seen Chinese contingent at the season’s penultimate ATP Masters tournament has captured the attention of the world’s best.

Serbian great Novak Djokovic, who is making his return to China after a five-year hiatus, said the fact that Chinese men have caught up with their more successful women’s counterparts only helps grow the game internationally.

“Historically, woman’s tennis in China has always had great success, particularly with Li Na, who won multiple Grand Slam titles and was a great champion. That has positively affected, in a great way, the growth of tennis in China,” Djokovic said after completing an open training session with China’s top men’s ace Zhang Zhizhen on Wednesday.

“It seems like the future is bright for Chinese tennis in both the men’s and women’s game. I like to see that,” said the men’s record 24-time major winner.

“I was actually hoping that there would be a Chinese man to break to top 100, top 50 in the world, and now you have not just one, but several of those guys that are really playing some good quality tennis.

“I don’t think that the dedication, or putting in the effort, was ever a problem (in China). I think the Chinese mentality is such that, when they are dedicated to something, you can see that working hard is not an issue here.

“It will be very interesting to see on the men’s side, how the players will evolve. I think it can only go up, because of the good mentality and, I guess, the overall great investment in tennis. I’m really excited to see how Chinese tennis will grow in the future.”

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