Court in session down under, but love means nothing

The winter of our discontent has been taunting us here in North China with the mercury dipping daily below zero with no fluffy stuff to show for the shivering. Tantalizingly close are recent news clips showing tourists atop Bactrians huddled against deep desert snows in Dunhuang, portions of the Great Wall beckoning visitors with frigid fresh white layers and children skittering across a frozen lake in the nearby Chengde mountain resort, which in imperial times, oddly enough, was a highly coveted getaway destination for members of the royal court seeking cooler climes in summer months.

But let not the frozen capital's snowless streets chill our spirit, despite news of our nearby neighbors frolicking in the white stuff.

I would say look south to warm your soul, very far south — Australia to be precise.

In fact, Australia, being in the southern hemisphere, is so far south their birds fly "north" for the winter, a season which is of course half a year ahead, or behind, Beijing's.

On Monday, the year's first of four grand slam tennis events got underway down under.

Although, "love" means absolutely nothing in tennis, the number 10 should mean a lot to Chinese tennis fans this time around.

That's because no fewer than seven ladies and three gentlemen from across China were in the main draw of the Grand Slam event in Melbourne. That's a three-fold record — the most Chinese women, Chinese men, and Chinese players overall in any major tennis event ever.

And the funny thing is, it almost ended up being 11, but, unfortunately, the day after Christmas, 30-year-young Wang Qiang of Tianjin withdrew from the Aussie hard court championships due to a bum shoulder.

Pundits have come to occasionally speak of the current century, already nearly a quarter through, as being the Chinese Century. That remains to be seen, but tennis fans in the land of Li Na, the gregarious Wuhan-born winner of both the 2011 French Open and the 2014 Australian Open, are hoping that a Chinese player — male or female — will be the first to lay claim to such coveted silverware in nearly a decade, (and make 2023 the year of China, at least as far as tennis is concerned). In fact, Li was the first and only Chinese player to win a slam. After so many years, she would certainly appreciate some company from her homeland, because it can get a bit lonely at the top sometimes, product endorsements notwithstanding.

I'm more bullish on the Chinese ladies' chances in Victoria, mainly because there are seven of them, but also because of one baseline cannon of a rookie in the form of Zheng Qinwen, just 20. The Hubei province native was last ranked 30th by the Women's Tennis Association, but she managed to land a 29 seed in Australia, and beat Hungary's Dalma Galfi, 86 seed, in her first round battle.

The hard-hitting Zheng will definitely be hoping to outdo her first slam event, last year's Australian Open, where she bowed out in the second round.

I first remember seeing Zheng dismantle former No 1 Simona Halep about a year ago, a match which saw the Romanian start strong, and then suffer a panic attack — by her own admission — to lose to the teenaged Chinese phenom.

Then, shortly after, I saw her (on TV of course) blow away veteran Alize Cornet 6-0, only to have the Frenchwoman suddenly develop muscle discomfort and retire after the first set bagel.

Zheng has sometimes been criticized for failing to maintain consistent mental toughness and a killer spirit for the duration of the match. Zheng, who was recently named WTA's "newcomer of the year" of 2022, is also making her fans worry about her physical health, as she pulled out of a warm-up tourney in Adelaide on Jan 11, citing thigh soreness.

Zheng's six female compatriots joining her in Australia are: No 24 Zhang Shuai, No 49 Wang Xiyu, Lin Zhu, Wang Xinyu, Yue Yuan and Zheng Saisai.

So why am I more jacked on No 29 Zheng over No 24 Zhang? Two things: age and agility. Zheng's legs are only 20, 13 years behind Zhang's, so at the risk of sounding a bit ageist, my money's on the young, nearly 1.8 meter-tall Zheng.

Also, Shenzhen's Wang Xinyu has given some top seeds some headaches of late. She's only a year older than Zheng, so look for Wang to be a regular presence for the next decade or two after also winning her first-round matchup a year ago.

Contact the writer at andrew@chinadaily.com.cn