Wow, this Chinese guy Mao-Xin Gong can really play!

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
I just watched the Chinese wildcard Gong play Safin in the 1st round of the Shanghai Masters and he was quite impressive for a guy that's ranked #541 and has only played futures events before (almost all in China). This was his first ever ATP tour match and he gave Safin a run for his money. He pretty much went toe-to-toe with Safin throughout the match and Safin only won with one break in each set. Before the match, I thought Safin (a former #1, two-time Grand Slam champion, and full of natural talent) would steamroll over this poor guy that nobody's ever heard of (kind of like what Cilic did to Nadal a few days ago ;-) ), but surprisingly he was very competitive with Safin and could have won this match if he didn't hit so many double-faults on break points.

For a small guy, he has good pace on his serve, hits a pretty big forehand, and has a very good one-handed backhand. He was keeping up with Safin on groundstroke rallies despite Safin's firepower off the ground. I think if this guy can put it all together and develop his game a bit more, we could see him playing in the main draw of Slams one day. (BTW, another Chinese wildcard, Shao-Xuan Zeng, won his 1st round match over Dudi Sela and they said he's the first Chinese man to ever win an ATP tour match in history. :shock: I know I've never seen a Chinese guy play in an ATP tour event before, only in the futures.)
 

mdjenders

Professional
he did hit some flashy shots, however i think his footwork and consistency are going to be a big barrier to move throught the futures/challenger type grinders. his results to date seem to bear this out.
 

MajinX

Professional
wow first chinese man to win a atp match? i guess they meant nationality wise... coz isnt chang chinese?
 

Baikalic

Semi-Pro
I just watched the Chinese wildcard Gong play Safin in the 1st round of the Shanghai Masters and he was quite impressive for a guy that's ranked #541 and has only played futures events before (almost all in China). This was his first ever ATP tour match and he gave Safin a run for his money. He pretty much went toe-to-toe with Safin throughout the match and Safin only won with one break in each set. Before the match, I thought Safin (a former #1, two-time Grand Slam champion, and full of natural talent) would steamroll over this poor guy that nobody's ever heard of (kind of like what Cilic did to Nadal a few days ago ;-) ), but surprisingly he was very competitive with Safin and could have won this match if he didn't hit so many double-faults on break points.

For a small guy, he has good pace on his serve, hits a pretty big forehand, and has a very good one-handed backhand. He was keeping up with Safin on groundstroke rallies despite Safin's firepower off the ground. I think if this guy can put it all together and develop his game a bit more, we could see him playing in the main draw of Slams one day. (BTW, another Chinese wildcard, Shao-Xuan Zeng, won his 1st round match over Dudi Sela and they said he's the first Chinese man to ever win an ATP tour match in history. :shock: I know I've never seen a Chinese guy play in an ATP tour event before, only in the futures.)

How old is he? Young gun?
 

Blinkism

Legend
This guy isn't the first Chinese man to win an ATP match, he is the first man from the People's Republic of China to win a match - Lu is from Taiwan which is also China (Democratic Republic of China) but not controlled by the Beijing government.

Just technicalities and politics, though.

Good stuff and good luck for Zeng and Mao-Xin Gong!!
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
RIght Chang is Chinese American. This other guy was Chinese.
Chang was born and grew up in the U.S., and started playing and developed his tennis game in the U.S. He has nothing in common with a guy who was born and grew up in China from a tennis development standpoint. Chang grew up playing against guys like Sampras, Agassi, and Courier as a junior and had world-class coaching.

Chang is as much Chinese as Sampras is Greek.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
This guy isn't the first Chinese man to win an ATP match, he is the first man from the People's Republic of China to win a match - Lu is from Taiwan which is also China (Democratic Republic of China) but not controlled by the Beijing government.

Just technicalities and politics, though.

Good stuff and good luck for Zeng and Mao-Xin Gong!!
When they say "Chinese man", they mean a man from China. Just like when they say Na Li is the first Chinese to get into the Top 20, they mean the first person from China.

Lu is from Taiwan so they would refer to him as "Taiwanese" in the same vein.

BTW, Americans are no longer allowed to refer to Taiwan as the "Republic of China" as it offends the Chinese. It's now referred to as "Chinese Taipei". In fact, that's what all the commentators refer players from Taiwan as. They don't even use the word "Taiwan" anymore. I know, it's stupid.
 

Baikalic

Semi-Pro
When they say "Chinese man", they mean a man from China. Just like when they say Na Li is the first Chinese to get into the Top 20, they mean the first person from China.

Lu is from Taiwan so they would refer to him as "Taiwanese" in the same vein.

BTW, Americans are no longer allowed to refer to Taiwan as the "Republic of China" as it offends the Chinese. It's now referred to as "Chinese Taipei". In fact, that's what all the commentators refer players from Taiwan as. They don't even use the word "Taiwan" anymore. I know, it's stupid.

The Chinese get offended at everything that besmirches their golden legacy. Oh yeah, I agree it's stupid.
 

Blinkism

Legend
When they say "Chinese man", they mean a man from China. Just like when they say Na Li is the first Chinese to get into the Top 20, they mean the first person from China.

Lu is from Taiwan so they would refer to him as "Taiwanese" in the same vein.

BTW, Americans are no longer allowed to refer to Taiwan as the "Republic of China" as it offends the Chinese. It's now referred to as "Chinese Taipei". In fact, that's what all the commentators refer players from Taiwan as. They don't even use the word "Taiwan" anymore. I know, it's stupid.

I was just being a smart-ass, BreakPoint.

Interesting fact about Taiwan, though. It's not like that in Canada, as such. We still call it Republic of China, but Taiwan is the going term in casual conversation. The political situation is beyond me, though, so I don't know what the politically correct/incorrect way to say Taiwan is!

On another note, it makes you ponder why there aren't many players coming out of East Asia and breaking into the Top 100.

And, from what I've heard (atleast in China) Tennis is quite popular in that part of the world.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
I was just being a smart-ass, BreakPoint.

Interesting fact about Taiwan, though. It's not like that in Canada, as such. We still call it Republic of China, but Taiwan is the going term in casual conversation. The political situation is beyond me, though, so I don't know what the politically correct/incorrect way to say Taiwan is!

On another note, it makes you ponder why there aren't many players coming out of East Asia and breaking into the Top 100.

And, from what I've heard (atleast in China) Tennis is quite popular in that part of the world.
Well, you would think that more top pros would have come out of Japan by now since tennis has been very popular in Japan for over a century. In fact, some of the best players in the world back in the 1920's were from Japan.

I think with the Beijing Olympics, the ATP Master's Cup in Shanghai over the past few years, The China Open, and now an ATP Master's Series event in Shanghai, tennis will continue to gain in popularity in China, so maybe some of the best athletes will begin to take up tennis from an early age?

BTW, I think "Chinese Taipei" is a stupid name for a country. I mean naming the whole country after the name of just a city? How silly!
 

Blinkism

Legend
Well, you would think that more top pros would have come out of Japan by now since tennis has been very popular in Japan for over a century. In fact, some of the best players in the world back in the 1920's were from Japan.

I think with the Beijing Olympics, the ATP Master's Cup in Shanghai over the past few years, The China Open, and now an ATP Master's Series event in Shanghai, tennis will continue to gain in popularity in China, so maybe some of the best athletes will begin to take up tennis from an early age?

BTW, I think "Chinese Taipei" is a stupid name for a country. I mean naming the whole country after the name of just a city? How silly!

Yeah, I think there's a few guys from Japan on the Wimbledon's Champions list.

And I agree about the influx of ATP tournaments in Asia being behind a potential boom in the popularity of tennis in Asia. But LOL @ the Australian Open being referred to as the "Grand Slam of Asia and the Pacific" or something to that effect, by its' organizers!
 

bojsag

Banned
Not to belittle Shao-Xuan Zeng in any way. Dudi Sela is by far the most worthless ATP ranked player in history of tennis. A win over Donald Young would have been more impressive for Shao-Xuan Zeng.
 

Golden Retriever

Hall of Fame
Why every article, discuss, thread etc from Westerners on China will always end up talking about Taiwan, Tibet, June 4th and democracy?

By the way, are you sure it is Chinese, Taipei and not China, Taiwan?
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Not to belittle Shao-Xuan Zeng in any way. Dudi Sela is by far the most worthless ATP ranked player in history of tennis. A win over Donald Young would have been more impressive for Shao-Xuan Zeng.
Why do you say that? You're not anti-Semitic or anything, are you?

Sela did get to the 4th round of Wimbledon this year and got to the finals of the China Open last year, losing to Roddick in the final in 3 sets, and also won both of his Davis Cup matches against Sweden both in tough 5-setters. He also has a great one-handed backhand. :)
 

nfor304

Banned
Yeah, I think there's a few guys from Japan on the Wimbledon's Champions list.

And I agree about the influx of ATP tournaments in Asia being behind a potential boom in the popularity of tennis in Asia. But LOL @ the Australian Open being referred to as the "Grand Slam of Asia and the Pacific" or something to that effect, by its' organizers!

They're clearly just pandering to asian audiences to try and boost ratings in the region.
 

bojsag

Banned
Why do you say that? You're not anti-Semitic or anything, are you?

Sela did get to the 4th round of Wimbledon this year and got to the finals of the China Open last year, losing to Roddick in the final in 3 sets, and also won both of his Davis Cup matches against Sweden both in tough 5-setters. He also has a great one-handed backhand. :)

Dudi Sela is the biggest running joke on the tour. His fluke 4R run at Wimbledon this year is a bigger joke than Soderling making slam final at FO. Sela has no weapons, his backhand is even weaker than his weak forehand, he has no serve or net play at all. His only chance is to play on grass and hope the opponent slips. Put him on HC and Sela folds like a beach chair every time against even players like Roddick or any Chinese qualifier/wildcard.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Dudi Sela is the biggest running joke on the tour. His fluke 4R run at Wimbledon this year is a bigger joke than Soderling making slam final at FO. Sela has no weapons, his backhand is even weaker than his weak forehand, he has no serve or net play at all. His only chance is to play on grass and hope the opponent slips. Put him on HC and Sela folds like a beach chair every time against even players like Roddick or any Chinese qualifier/wildcard.
Um...OK. If you played Sela, my money would be on Sela to win. If you were smart, you'd bet on him to win, too. :)
 

bojsag

Banned
Um...OK. If you played Sela, my money would be on Sela to win. If you were smart, you'd bet on him to win, too. :)

Sela was the biggest cheat in the juniors. Years later and millions of dirty federation support money later Sela is still the biggest cheat, and the most overrated player to win ATP point in history of tennis. No comparison to honest people who never cheated or had silver spoons stuck up their asses to break through the circuit. Your point is moot.
 

DragonBlaze

Hall of Fame
Why do you say that? You're not anti-Semitic or anything, are you?

Sela did get to the 4th round of Wimbledon this year and got to the finals of the China Open last year, losing to Roddick in the final in 3 sets, and also won both of his Davis Cup matches against Sweden both in tough 5-setters. He also has a great one-handed backhand. :)

P_Agony loves Sela. gj011 hated P_Agony (for whatever reason).
 

lawrence

Hall of Fame
hopefully this guy breaks through and sparks interest within china
that place may be absolutely huge and densely populated, but you also have to remember the majority of those people are living in poor conditions

i dont mean poor as in 3rd world poor, but poor in the sense that tennis training costs a **** ton of money
 

goober

Legend
hopefully this guy breaks through and sparks interest within china
that place may be absolutely huge and densely populated, but you also have to remember the majority of those people are living in poor conditions

Yes hopefully they will spark interest so that more than 50 people are in the stands of a huge stadium for a masters level event.
 

Blinkism

Legend
dont... just dont... or you will become a ****** to Mr. Gorecki and you will consequently meet his wrath....
:)

haha, I wouldn't want you stalking and trolling me, gorecki! I don't think I could handle it

Especially when I've already got a fanboy stalker after me in Drakulie :shock:

ps: btw.. is butsac banned already?

For now

:)
 

GasquetGOAT

Hall of Fame
Yes hopefully they will spark interest so that more than 50 people are in the stands of a huge stadium for a masters level event.

and maybe if they lower the ticket price would help as well...Last year they were saying the organisers actually had to give out hundreds of tickets to some schools so they could "fill" the stadium a little more!lol... what waste of a such good event...
 
T

TheMagicianOfPrecision

Guest
Its a cool thing that the Chinese (and Asian) players are coming along, the ladies are very succesful and have been on the big stage for a while now, and China has had a lot of Western coaches since the mid 90`s and the potential there should be HUGE !
 
D

Deleted member 21996

Guest
haha, I wouldn't want you stalking and trolling me, gorecki! I don't think I could handle it

Especially when I've already got a fanboy stalker after me in Drakulie :shock:



For now

:)


have no doubts that i would crush you with supremely refined trolishness and stalking... :)
 

GasquetGOAT

Hall of Fame
Its a cool thing that the Chinese (and Asian) players are coming along, the ladies are very succesful and have been on the big stage for a while now, and China has had a lot of Western coaches since the mid 90`s and the potential there should be HUGE !

I agree. Imagine if there are a few Michael Changs on tour right now but like bigger and taller (ie. Schrichapan), the clay season would be much more fun...
 
T

TheMagicianOfPrecision

Guest
I agree. Imagine if there are a few Michael Changs on tour right now but like bigger and taller (ie. Schrichapan), the clay season would be much more fun...
Absolutely, my prediction is by 2013-2014 there will be at least 10 Asian players on the ATP-tour top 100
The world junior boy no1 is from Taiwan, insanely talented kid.
 

ubermeyer

Hall of Fame
Not to belittle Shao-Xuan Zeng in any way. Dudi Sela is by far the most worthless ATP ranked player in history of tennis. A win over Donald Young would have been more impressive for Shao-Xuan Zeng.

Incontrovertible proof that bojsag was indeed gj011 right here, folks.
 

crazylevity

Hall of Fame
^^ not really. From what I've seen in Beijing and Shanghai, they're pretty Safin-crazy over there. Plus, he's on his retirement tour.
 

MichaelChang

Hall of Fame
Let me tell you something about China's men's tennis. Because I was born there and I lived there 20 something years until some years ago when I left. about 10 years ago, China's top man ranks about 500 in the ATP. Today, the same. Zeng is the top gun right now and ranks what? somewhere 400 or 500s?

China's men's tennis hasn't really made any breakthrough. What is the problem? I have spoken and hit with a top junior in China (runner up of China's national Junior tour, at age or 16). He told me as a junior, he can hang with any junior from the world. But when then fully grow up, Chinese men just does not have the same level of match experience and coaching to keep up with the rest of the tour. China does not lack of enthourism in tennis, they have tons of kids playing and huge population ground. Its women's tennis is already making great breakthrough, its got about 3-4 players in the top 50 in WTA. But for men's tennis to break from top 500 to top 100, they need to send their good juniors to US or Europe to train and play matches there. Well, that surely cost money, and considering China as a socialism country, and tennis being a personal sport, that is why China has not sent their "country-developed" juniors to fully develop their game in any foreign country. Sad.
 

Ambivalent

Hall of Fame
Let me tell you something about China's men's tennis. Because I was born there and I lived there 20 something years until some years ago when I left. about 10 years ago, China's top man ranks about 500 in the ATP. Today, the same. Zeng is the top gun right now and ranks what? somewhere 400 or 500s?

China's men's tennis hasn't really made any breakthrough. What is the problem? I have spoken and hit with a top junior in China (runner up of China's national Junior tour, at age or 16). He told me as a junior, he can hang with any junior from the world. But when then fully grow up, Chinese men just does not have the same level of match experience and coaching to keep up with the rest of the tour. China does not lack of enthourism in tennis, they have tons of kids playing and huge population ground. Its women's tennis is already making great breakthrough, its got about 3-4 players in the top 50 in WTA. But for men's tennis to break from top 500 to top 100, they need to send their good juniors to US or Europe to train and play matches there. Well, that surely cost money, and considering China as a socialism country, and tennis being a personal sport, that is why China has not sent their "country-developed" juniors to fully develop their game in any foreign country. Sad.

Chinese socialism has nothing to do with the fact that Chinese men are not being sent to other countries to train. You have no idea what you're talking about.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Don't forget, he had the home-court advantage. Expect everyone to be cheering for the local over the foreigner
Not really. The Shanghai tournament isn't even giving any of its own players any love. The other Chinese player, Zeng, is playing his 2nd round match today against Tsonga, and not only did they not schedule him for the prime-time night match, they didn't even put him on the main stadium court!

Now look at how often Americans Roddick and Blake get to play the night matches on Arthur Ashe stadium at the US Open.

BTW, there haven't been many spectators at all in any of the matches so far. The stands have been pretty empty.
 

JHBKLYN

Rookie
Well, that surely cost money, and considering China as a socialism country, and tennis being a personal sport, that is why China has not sent their "country-developed" juniors to fully develop their game in any foreign country. Sad.

Probably don't want them to defect!
 

35ft6

Legend
Its a cool thing that the Chinese (and Asian) players are coming along, the ladies are very succesful and have been on the big stage for a while now, and China has had a lot of Western coaches since the mid 90`s and the potential there should be HUGE !
They probably will, but they should teach them on clay. When I used to go to the US Open qualies every year I would see a lot of Japanese guys in the tournament and they all sort of had the same strokes. Compact flat shots. Kind of like Kimiko Date but not as extreme Yeah, they weren't super huge, but I saw smaller guys from South America and parts of Europe the same size with way more power and I think it's because of the way they were taught. Not saying China is like Japan, and out of a gene pool of a billion I'm sure some really big guys with athletic ability will emerge, but in the meanwhile, they should teach them some modern strokes. Coria isn't huge either but he was crushing the ball compared to the Japanese guys of similar build.

When I saw Nishikori play, after about 5 minutes I said "he doesn't look like he trained in Japan... his strokes look more modern..." Went home, looked him up and sure enough he trained at IMG academies. I doubt the Chinese will allow their most talented kids develop in Spain or Florida where they can face top competition every day.
 

onehandbh

G.O.A.T.
Wrong. Taiwan is not part of China. It's been a separate country for
some time now.

Brief historical timeline:

http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/teikoku-denmo/english/history/taiwan.html


This guy isn't the first Chinese man to win an ATP match, he is the first man from the People's Republic of China to win a match - Lu is from Taiwan which is also China (Democratic Republic of China) but not controlled by the Beijing government.

Just technicalities and politics, though.

Good stuff and good luck for Zeng and Mao-Xin Gong!!
 
Taiwan isnt in the UN because when it applied, China didnt like it so they couldnt approve. This was when Taiwan was run by the old anti China political party. I THINK
 
Taiwan isnt in the UN because when it applied, China didnt like it so they couldnt approve. This was when Taiwan was run by the old anti China political party. I THINK

edit: random quote 'Some international observers argue that we should not raise the Taiwan issue, saying that Taiwan's entry into the UN is impossible because China has a permanent seat in the Security Council and will block any attempt to let Taiwan join the UN.'
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
Wrong.

Taiwan has never been a country.

Show me where Taiwan is
http://www.un.org/en/members/index.shtml

Tell UN that 'history'. lol
Wrong. Taiwan is a separate country as it has its own independently elected government. How many things have you ever purchased that say "Made in Taiwan" on it? If it wasn't a country, it couldn't say that.

Taiwan (Republic of China) was a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council from 1945 to 1971.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_and_the_United_Nations
 

Shangri La

Hall of Fame
Wrong. Taiwan is a separate country as it has its own independently elected government. How many things have you ever purchased that say "Made in Taiwan" on it? If it wasn't a country, it couldn't say that.

Taiwan (Republic of China) was a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council from 1945 to 1971.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_and_the_United_Nations

"...a permanent member of the Security Council from 1945 to 1971..." how is it 'permanent' when it's already ended??

And apparently your government disagrees with you. The US government doesnt think Taiwan is a separate 'country' and doesn't have official relations with it. US also refrains from using the obsolete term 'ROC':

http://www.usembassy.gov/

*The U.S. maintains unofficial relations with the people on Taiwan through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private nonprofit corporation, which performs citizen and consular services similar to those at diplomatic posts. See AIT's website www.ait.org.tw/en/ for details.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
"...a permanent member of the Security Council from 1945 to 1971..." how is it 'permanent' when it's already ended??

And apparently your government disagrees with you. The US government doesnt think Taiwan is a separate 'country' and doesn't have official relations with it. US also refrains from using the obsolete term 'ROC':

http://www.usembassy.gov/

*The U.S. maintains unofficial relations with the people on Taiwan through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), a private nonprofit corporation, which performs citizen and consular services similar to those at diplomatic posts. See AIT's website www.ait.org.tw/en/ for details.
Hello? It was China that forced Taiwan out of the UN and forces the U.S. not to have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. If China did not exist, Taiwan would still be in the UN and would still have official diplomatic ties to the U.S.

The U.S. knows Taiwan is a separate country. That's why we import so many products from Taiwan and have extensive trade and commerce with Taiwan. We just can't officially say so in front of the Chinese. They are very touchy over this subject.

Oh, and if the U.S. has no relations at all with Taiwan, why is it that the U.S. will go to war to protect Taiwan if China ever invaded the island?
 

Shangri La

Hall of Fame
Hello? It was China that forced Taiwan out of the UN and forces the U.S. not to have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. If China did not exist, Taiwan would still be in the UN and would still have official diplomatic ties to the U.S.

China 'forces' the US, lol? When was the US ever 'forced' by anyone? From what I heard the US only does the right things and has been among the greatest forces to protect the justice and world peace. Did I get that wrong?

The U.S. knows Taiwan is a separate country. That's why we import so many products from Taiwan and have extensive trade and commerce with Taiwan. We just can't officially say so in front of the Chinese. They are very touchy over this subject.

Oh, and if the U.S. has no relations at all with Taiwan, why is it that the U.S. will go to war to protect Taiwan if China ever invaded the island?

yea... trading sure equals official diplomatic relations, that's why the US government even bothers to state clearly on their website that US maintains unofficial relations with people on Taiwan.
 

BreakPoint

Bionic Poster
China 'forces' the US, lol? When was the US ever 'forced' by anyone? From what I heard the US only does the right things and has been among the greatest forces to protect the justice and world peace. Did I get that wrong?
OK, if China doesn't care if the U.S. has diplomatic relations or not with Taiwan, what do you think would happen if the U.S. set up an official embassy in Taipei and officially recognized Taiwan as the Republic of China? China would go ballistic, in more ways than one. Heck, many years ago, the President of Taiwan wanted to drop by Cornell to receive an honorary degree from his alma mater but couldn't because China protested vehemently that any Taiwan official could not step foot on U.S. soil, even though it was a completely non-diplomatic trip, or else the U.S. would face grave consequences.

Do you see the U.S. military coming to the aid of Tibet? Nope. But if China invaded Taiwan, just watch what happens. The U.S. 7th Naval Fleet would be in the Strait of Taiwan in no time and launch a military counter-attack on mainland China. I'd say that counts as "recognizing" the sovereignty of Taiwan.
yea... trading sure equals official diplomatic relations, that's why the US government even bothers to state clearly on their website that US maintains unofficial relations with people on Taiwan.
As I said before, that's because China would have a s**t-fit if the U.S. didn't state that.

How old are you anyway? Learn some history. I remember the day when the UN replaced Taiwan with China on the security council. It was a major international incident with protests from many countries. The fact of the matter is, if China didn't have cheap labor, a huge potential market, and nuclear weapons, the U.S. probably wouldn't even bother with it.
 
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