Why are all the better Chinese pro players female? Most of these women are larger and taller than the average Chinese female, and can be almost as tall as some other WTA players, say 5’8”. This isn’t true of the Chinese guys. Most Chinese men are under 5’7”. For some reason, the height and weight differences between the Chinese female players as a group and female ‘civilians’ are much greater compared to that of the male players and male civilians, so the best female pros can be competitive on tour. But the male players are at a distinct physical disadvantage against their opponents in the ATP. This seems to be true of Asian males in general. There are no Asian males in the top ranks of the ATP. It’s a big, big deal in an Asian country when one of its players beats anyone in the top 20 or so. Instant fame and big endorsements. In the recent Del Ray Beach tournament before Miami, Japanese teen Kei Nishikori beat James Blake in 3 and became the first Japanese guy in nearly 16 years to win an ATP event. Other than that, he hasn’t done much, and Blake regained his sometimes-dubious senses and beat him routinely in Houston soon after that, but that one win at a challenger was enough for the boy to snag a Sony endorsement. Not too long ago, much was expected of Paradorn Srichaphan, who was an unusually big Thai guy, but he never broke into the top, faded away, then got married, and I’m betting we won’t be seeing him anytime soon. Few players improve their tennis rankings after getting married, after all. Too many new distractions, I guess.
Bruce Jenkins at sfgate.com writes: ‘From all the evidence we have, including quotes from the players, every tennis player in China is schooled from the baseline. They all play exactly the same (and we’re talking about women, with a strong presence in the world top 100, as opposed to the Chinese men, who have made no impact at all and probably won’t be a factor in Beijing). The doubles specialists obviously gain volleying skills at the net, but even those players, when turned over to singles, play from the baseline.’
The same can be said of the ‘-ovas’/the Russian women, and the Japanese women. Almost all these players train under a national federation, and their coaches have them playing from the baseline, hitting hard, flat groundies using a double BH (also, the shorter Asian players, with their lower center of gravity, are great retrievers whose lack of reach prevents them from coming in much). But they’re mass-produced, playing the same game. Makes it hard to tell all the Russian women apart, and despite being born Chinese, I can’t tell all the Chinese women apart either. The French – now they’re a different story. The French federation emphasizes a complete game à la Mauresmo, Mathieu, Gasquet, Tsonga; but they seem to be lacking in the what-happens-above-the-neck department.
A few years ago, former world #2 Michael Chang announced his interest in coaching Chinese players and was for a brief time the coach of Peng Shuai. Perhaps the split was inevitable – Michael said he didn’t want to travel with Peng full-time, adding that she didn’t want to train as hard as he felt she should. Under his tutelage her WTA rank rose to #31 in singles and #21 in doubles. She dropped to #67 and #25 since they split last November. Michael was born and raised in the US; during his career he worked his butt off and made the most any human being could of his small size (at 5’8”, the same as Peng’s). His great champion’s heart and his conduct on and off the court earned him respect everywhere he went.
Michael has openly admitted there were difficulties working with the Chinese; they had different ideas about training, nutrition, match preparation, etc. - the basics. Mikey’s always been a class act; nonetheless, being a non-native Chinese myself, I can easily see him having problems over there, especially since his Mandarin isn’t fluent. The Chinese are extremely stubborn in their ways and allergic to criticism from outsiders. They may have loved Michael and claimed him as their own in his glory days not too long ago, when he was running down impossible balls and making his opponents look silly. But it would’ve been another story once he went over there and started pointing out things their players could be doing differently. Then he would’ve been seen as an American and an outsider, not one of them.
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