Zverev, Thiem Receive Warm Welcome In China
Zverev, Thiem Receive Warm Welcome In China
It hasn’t been all about tennis for players this week. ATPWorldTour.com provides a recap of the highlights.
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Chengdu Open – Chengdu, China
The top four seeds — Dominic Thiem, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev — attended the Chengdu Open Players’ Party at the St. Regis Chengdu, where they received a gift from the tournament with their names written in Chinese calligraphy.
Wu Yibing, who recently became the youngest Chinese winner on the ATP Challenger Tour circuit just a week after claiming the US Open Boys’ Singles and Doubles titles, attended the draw ceremony.
#NextGenATP Karen Khachanov, Jared Donaldson and Taylor Fritz visited the Chengdu pandas at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Donaldson was on top of his panda trivia, asking, “Did you know that China owns the rights to every panda in the world, except two? Those two are in Mexico.” Read and Watch
Marcos Baghdatis and #NextGenATP Borna Coric put their culinary skills to the test, attempting to make Chinese meat dumplings. Read and Watch
“There are not a lot of similarities between American and Chinese culture – we don’t have bamboo and cultural places like this,” said Donaldson, who joined Sweden’s Mikael Ymer on a trip to ‘Wangjian Lou’, a cultural attraction in Chengdu that roughly means ‘river view pavilion.’ The duo learned calligraphy and played mini-tennis in the park. Read and Watch
Shenzhen Open – Shenzhen, China
Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev joined David Goffin and Paolo Lorenzi at the Shenzhen Open Players’ Party. The Zverevs continued an annual tradition in which players competing in the event leave their handprint in a piece of artwork.
Alexander Zverev, the tournament’s top seed, visited the Shenzhen Grand Gemdale Tennis Club in Pingshan, an hour’s drive off-site, where he held a clinic for players in the academy.
China’s own Ze Zhang and Israeli Dudi Sela attended the draw ceremony.
Lorenzi and Jeremy Chardy played mini-tennis in front of the tournament hotel to help launch the tournament.
Doubles players Marcelo Melo and Alexander Peya played tennis with local kids and offered photo opportunities.
