I got a message out of the blue this week from Patrick McEnroe – the former US Davis Cup captain turned ESPN commentator and, yes, brother of John – to go on his Holding Court podcast to talk about tennis and China, plus everything in between. It was a lot of fun – you can find that episode here (and see the video clip below). Just days earlier, I had the chance to talk to Chinese F1 driver Zhou Guanyu on my own China Sports Insider Podcast – and he had a lot to say (full show blurb below). We also talked on the show about China losing its hosting rights to the 2023 Asian Cup – and see some of my comments I made on the topic to Reuters here.
Tag Archives: ATP
Djokovic: Beijing’s pollution “slows ball down”
Remember a year ago when the smog in Beijing was so bad that Rafael Nadal nearly pulled out of the China Open tennis final, while golfers in the inaugural LPGA Reignwood Classic wore masks while they played?
This year during the National Week holiday the weather was generally kinder, though the weather did not go unnoticed. Check out these comments made by world number one Novak Djokovic:
Continue reading Djokovic: Beijing’s pollution “slows ball down”
孙杨将填补李娜退役留下的空白
当甚嚣尘上的李娜退役新闻趋于平淡，人们的目光转向了“谁能成为李娜的继任者？”这一问题，不仅仅是在网球领域，而是整个中国体坛。
Chinese male nets return to Australian Open
Chinese tennis player Wu Di, who made history earlier this year by becoming the first Chinese man to play in a Grand Slam tournament, has qualified for next year’s tournament via the same process – by winning the Asia-Pacific wildcard playoff. The 22-year-old has not, by his own admission, had a good year, but said this gives him focus for the future. Wu also qualified for this year’s tournament, but lost in the first round to Croatia’s Ivan Dodig in four sets.
Continue reading Chinese male nets return to Australian Open
Weekly Wrap: Beckham, Pacquiao, Liverpool, Asian Cup & ATP
Pac-Man, Zou Shiming have early start in Macau
Manny Pacquiao takes on Brandon Rios in Macau at around lunchtime on Sunday China time (to ensure a prime-time Saturday evening audience in the US). There was lots of talk from the Manny camp about how this one is for the Philippines given the recent typhoon, but that will all be forgotten when the bell goes. There was also a predictably entertaining build-up with trainers from each side getting into it in the gym – in other words, typical pre-bout stuff.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said he expects around 200 million homes in China to tune in to see the main event, which, as usual, is way, way beyond the realms of reality. Continue reading Weekly Wrap: Beckham, Pacquiao, Liverpool, Asian Cup & ATP