President Nixon Shaking Hands with
Mao Zedong in 1972
China- it has been reported- has maybe 4 clay courts, the surface on which the French Open is played.
How has a country so isolated geographically and politically from the rest of the world suddenly emerged as a world class tennis nation?
About 40 years ago, Chinese society was virtually closed to the world. Few westerners ventured across her borders as the Communist leader Chou en Lai ruled the country of 830 million citizens with an iron fisted hand. Americans were not allowed in the country since the Communist takeover in 1949!
All that changed dramatically in 1971, when the US national Ping Pong team, competing in Japan received an all-expense paid invitation to visit mainland China to compete against her team. Our team was royally received with the Chinese leader hosting our players with a banquet in the Great Hall of the People on April 14th.
The same day the US lifted economic sanctions against China.
This was a great public relations ploy for both countries as President Nixon reciprocated the honors by hosting the Chinese team on our shores later the same year.
Thus was ushered in the era of Ping Pong Diplomacy.
Soon there began secret negotiations between Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his Chinese counterpart to pave the way for normalization of relations. Indeed, the US announced on July 15th that President Nixon would be visiting China in 1972!
In the meantime, China has pushed ahead to promote competition in the World Olympic Games. She ranks just one medal shy of the US in total medals at 100.
However, China has 51 gold medals to the US's 36!
Now with the Williams sisters sidelined with injuries, China appears to be gaining on us with her aggressive promotion of tennis stars like Li Na.
Photo (1) courtesy of Wikipedia
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