Talented Coco groomed to be the next Li Na
Xu Shilin - the first Chinese girl to be No 1 in world junior rankings - has set her sights on winning a grand slam title before she is 20
China has begun its search for the next Li Na, and one of the juniors with the talent to replace the country's two-time grand slam champion may speak better English than she does Chinese.
Xu Shilin, who has just turned 17 and goes by the English name Coco, was the first Chinese girl to be No 1 in the world junior rankings and won the gold medal at the Youth Olympics last year. Her goal is to win a grand slam title before she is 20.
"It is a goal and a dream. Of course, I'm working toward that," she said at the Australian Open, where she was the top seed in the girl's singles before losing on Wednesday in the third round. "I think anything is possible."
Coco got tough. She grew up. She saw how difficult it was for her parents
Xu's parents decided to develop her talents outside China's sports system, choosing to move to Florida where she could train at top private academies.
Such freedoms were only made possible due to Li and a few other players who broke free from the state system and were allowed to manage their own careers and keep prize money. Xu's parents made a big decision when they saw how much talent she had at the age of eight. Her father, Xu Yang, sold the small tennis club he owned in Guangdong and moved the family to Florida for nearly six years.
"Her father rolled the dice," said Xu's manager Terry Rhoads, managing director of Shanghai-based sports consulting firm Zou Marketing. "They didn't live well. They struggled."
Xu was invited to train at several academies and began to climb the junior rankings in the US, attracting the interest of the United States Tennis Association, Rhoads said. Instead of having Xu play for the US, the family returned to China. It was not an easy transition at first because Xu's Putonghua had become so rusty, she was afraid to speak at times. But she is becoming more comfortable now and has attracted sponsors, including Adidas and Chinese phone maker Vivo.
Rhoads compares her career trajectory with that of Japanese star Kei Nishikori, who also lived in and trained in the US for many years. "If you ask me this is what China needs to do with a bunch of the boys," he said. "Coco got tough. She grew up. She saw how difficult it was for her parents."
Other top juniors have chosen to train at private academies on the mainland where they receive training, education, room and board and travel expenses in exchange for a percentage of future prize money earned.
At the Australian Open, Xu played doubles against one of them, 16-year-old Zheng Wushuang, who trains at the 1123 Junior Tennis Academy in Beijing and is now China's second-ranked junior girl.
Sitting courtside, Yi Ping, the founder of the academy, said she had taken on only seven of the young players in order to maximise the resources she can provide them. Insurance company Ping An is the academy's main sponsor. Nike and Babolat provide clothing and equipment.
"With the academy becoming more famous, there are more junior players who want to come in," Yi said. "But we want to see the great potential in players and decide if we want to have them." Xu believes her father made the right decision for her development. "I think it's very different than going down the traditional Chinese route," Xu said. "I got a lot of good experience from that time," in Florida.
And although she admires Li Na's career, she does not want to be compared with her. "I like her a lot. I just want to be myself."
