China The New Hotbed
 

With the success of Li Na and the size of the population in a few years China will dominate womens tennis like South Korea dominates womens golf. What do you guys think?

it's going to happen ... the Chinese people are hard workers,very disciplined and very eager to learn ,plus right now with all those billionaires they'll find money to support their up and coming ... they will throw money for a piece of fame..

And if they all play the type of game Li Na plays they are sure to dominate.Carlos is probably the best coach on the womens tour. If these young Chinese girls role model Li Nas tactics and technique its gonna be trouble for the rest of the world. Li has the BEST backhand on the tour and now shes got soooo much more shape on the forehand. I have made my daughter watch the last two matches Li Na has played and showed her what tennis is suppose to look like.

Women's tennis is a "doable" sport, meaning putting in enough work leads to results. It doesn't require any special physical skills. So a player can appear from any part of the world where there is opportunity and interest.

China has been the next hotbed for athletes for the last 20 years. They've experienced only moderate success in tennis. Lot's of other sports there that are higher profile. More population does not always equal success and domination at the top of the pro game. Not in today's world.

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^^^^Population may mean depth, success at the top in today's game is anyone's guess.

I think China will dominate within the next 10 years in womens tennis. It wasnt an overnight thing in Russia or South Korea.

Possibly, but on average Chinese athletes have historically been a half step slower and a bit less powerful than their American and European counterparts.

If anything, I think China will re-introduce to the world, the sport of badminton!;-)

the best girls are coming out of the US, look at the top ITF players and on the opposite side where you will expect players to come from, no girls out of spain :oops:. France has the highest currant ATP players.

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This is not a bad bet , you have what I have said is a main ingrediant along with hard work is a coach who is a dictator ,,This country comes with that as a foundation strait up dictators at all levels, so there is a good chance they will develop a lot of players who win Grandslams as early as 15 yrs old .

Funny stuff Brad. You forgot to add with growth hormones, and other PED's like their ever so successful swimmers and gymnasts.

Are you implying that these Chinese ladies used PED to win tennis matches?:confused: I recalled that only one guy got caught for using PED a few years ago. Experts would likely point out that tennis is not about the speed and strength, you win with skills, control, mental toughness, endurance, flexibility... Who is the most famous cheater, a guy named Lance!

Going back to GA's prediction that Chinese women will dominate tennis in 10 years. I am not sure how one defies dominance. I would say it's possible that in a few years, 10 women with Chinese surnames would be ranked top 100. These ladies could be produced in China, Taiwan or US (like Grace Min or Claire Liu?). More top tennis coaches will be hired to train youth in China and some promising juniors may even get trained in academies in US or EU. However, the only sport that China has dominated and will continue to dominate is table tennis.

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10 ladies with Chinese surname are currently ranked top 200 WTA (sorry for being a little deceptive:)).

#6 Li Na
#27 Hsieh Su-Wei (Taiwan)
#32 Peng Shuai
#40 Zheng Jie
#86 Chang Kai-Chen (Taiwan)
#117 Chan Yung-Jan (Taiwan)
#131 Zhang Shuai
#137 Zheng Saisai - Was she impressive in doubles?
#169 Zhou Yi-Miao
#178 Grace Min (US)
#193 Wang Qiang

I think only the very top Chinese ladies (like top 50), who can go deep in tournaments to earn good living with prize money and endorsement have chosen to get out of the state sponsored program. Most juniors and WTA or ITF profs are still sponsored by the state or provinces. These pros will get a salary and all the expenses are paid by the state; but they only get to keep 50% of the prize money and endorsements. Carlos Rodriguez was working in China before he joined Li Na's team. Michael Chang has a tennis academy in Shenzhen. More and more top coaches will be working in China...

10 American and 10 Russian women are ranked top 100 now. This trend shall continue. Keys will be ranked top 20 likely this year; Townsend may be ranked top 50 in 2 years. They and Sloane are future grand slam winners:). Has anybody foreseen an American man winning a grand slam in the next few years:(?

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I was kidding as I thought Brad's post may have been tongue in cheek. Not saying the Chinese are doping their tennis players but they have doped other athletes in the past, that's all. Would not put anything past the Chinese government.

Regarding your experts comments, would those be the same experts who early on in the Baseball PED's conspiracy, said PED's in baseball did not make a difference for the same reason? They contended PED's really just helped primarily with injury recovery.

TCF - Agree. It's really hard to find a tennis court in China unless you live in one of the largest cities. So, your and GA's daughter will likely face more challenge from girls and women from Russia and Eastern European countries.