China's rising stars serve notice on tennis world

New breed

China's world No 36 Wang Xinyu was one of the highlights of the women's draw last week after she fought her way into the fourth round, her best performance at a major and the furthest an individual Chinese player advanced at this year's Wimbledon.

The 22-year-old, a winner of the 2018 Wimbledon girls' doubles, said her deep run in London was a great learning curve.

"My whole experience of fighting into the second week for the first time here was priceless," Wang said after losing to Ukraine's world No 21 Elina Svitolina 6-2,6-1 in the round of 16 on July 8.

"Although the result didn't happen as expected today, I still finished this year's tournament with a lot of positive takeaways, knowing better where I should push for further improvement," Wang said.

"The chances of competing against the more established international opponents and measuring my game against them were a great lesson."

Born into a sporting family, Wang's development has mirrored many of the game's international stars. She started practicing tennis at the age of 6 influenced by her father, a former national team coach. She trained overseas and honed her skills on the International Tennis Federation's junior circuit before breaking onto the world stage as a teenager.

After winning a wild-card playoff in December 2017, Wang earned direct entry into the 2018 Australian Open. At the age of 16 she became the youngest Chinese mainland player to ever play in the main draw at Melbourne Park. To add to the luster, she won the girls' doubles title with partner Liang En-shuo of Chinese Taipei the same year.

The 1.83-meter power hitter, who has inherited her father's touch and the height of her mother, a former basketball player, has since emerged as a rising star on the WTA Tour.

Her support team includes Croatian coach Miro Hrvatin, a full-time fitness trainer, a physio, and an agent from IMG, the Florida-based sports marketing giant that has signed most of China's top players.