STORY: Djokovic looks forward to more success from Chinese male players
SHOOTING TIME: Dec. 26, 2023
DATELINE: Dec. 27, 2023
LENGTH: 00:00:43
LOCATION: Riyadh
CATEGORY: SPORTS

SHOTLIST:
1. SOUNDBITE (English): NOVAK DJOKOVIC, Serbian World Tennis Star

STORYLINE:

World number one Novak Djokovic gave all thumbs up to the success of Chinese tennis male players like Zhang Zhizhen and Wu Yibing in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua, and looks forward to more success from the Chinese male players.
   
Djokovic, who is playing the Riyadh Season Tennis Cup in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, said he was impressed with the performance of the Chinese male players in 2023.

SOUNDBITE (English): NOVAK DJOKOVIC, Serbian tennis player
"I have seen his (Wu Yibing's) success in the 2023. And I think it's very important for China, which is a country that is very big and loves record sports and loves tennis to have players who are on the men's side because historically you had better success on the women's side. But now on the men's side, having players that are breaking to the top 100, top 50 in the world and trying to reach the greatest heights and compete for the greatest prizes in tournaments in sports. So I have great support of all of them and hopefully, they can grow tennis as a sport and popularity even more in China with their success."

Zhang became the first man from the Chinese mainland to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP 1000 tournament at this year's Madrid Open. He also reached the last 32 in both the French Open and U.S. Open.

In July, Zhang rose to No. 52 in the world rankings, the highest position ever held by a Chinese mainland male player. The 27-year-old finished 58th in the year-end rankings.

Meanwhile, 24-year-old Wu became the first Chinese mainland player to lift an ATP Tour trophy with victory at the Dallas Open in February. And he reached his career-high ranking of world No. 54 in May.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Riyadh.
(XHTV)