The Chinese women’s tennis national team is preparing for the Tokyo Olympics

The Chinese women’s tennis team is currently training behind closed doors in Rizhao, Shandong Province, East China. All five players going to the Tokyo Olympics are excited to represent the country despite the difficult conditions associated with the Games.

The tennis team began a month-long closed-door practice on June 18th. Double Asian Games gold medalist Wang Qiang passed the entire grass field season, including the Wimbledon Championships, focusing on preparing for the delayed Tokyo Games. Dropping the tournament series meant the collapse of the world-class players. However, Wang showed strong self-confidence in anticipation of the upcoming Olympics.

“Representing my country as an athlete at the Olympics is a tribute. I feel bad about losing my ranking, but I think I’m in good shape right now, and if I can keep it up, I can definitely come back strong whenever I want,” Wang said.

To ensure the individual training of the players, all the partners who hit the bubble are selected from the national teams from the aggressive basic teams to the waiters and volleyball players and all from the field players. Five Olympic participants can choose their beating partner the way they want and map out their own training programs with the coaches. As the team’s only player to compete in both singles and doubles in Tokyo, Zheng Saisai and his twin partner Duan Yinging are accustomed to training with two powerful young men.

“They’re great servers and great volleyball players, and we believe this can help motivate us to compete and better prepare for real matches,” said Zheng, runner-up in the French Open in 2019.

“We’ve come up with different tactics for different opponents, in fact we’re used to training with men’s batting partners while competing on tour. They’re relatively faster and stronger, which helps us improve a lot,” added Zheng’s partner during Duan Roland’s. Garros tournament in 2019.

Along with Zheng and Duan, another duo is gold medalists Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan at the 2018 Asian Games. Xu is currently ranked 12th in the WTA World Doubles, and he is working harder on strength training. The double Grand Slam finalist will enjoy the logistical support provided by the national team in addition to hard training as well as delicious food.

“Normally we have eight meals a day, always meat. I always start with fruit before a meal. It’s balanced and healthy,” Xu said.

These comprehensive care services aim to help five women find the best shape to win thanks to China in Tokyo. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Li Ting and Sun Tiantian made history by winning women’s double gold medals before double grand-slam champions Zheng Jie and Yan Zi added bronze medals in the same class at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Therefore, Chinese fans have been waiting for the women’s singles tennis event this time to a breakthrough. Xun’s partner Yang hopes to turn the pressure into motivation: “All accepted pairs are competitive, including us. So I think everyone has a chance to get on the podium. I try to balance pressure and motivation, work out hard and go show the best form.”