China's Buyunchaokete hits a forehand return to Italy's Jannik Sinner during a China Open semifinal match at the National Tennis Center in Beijing, on Tuesday. [Photo/Reuters]
Not once, but twice — Buyunchaokete's recent back-to-back ATP semifinal runs have proved his huge potential as yet another emerging Chinese contender at the top of men's tennis.
Everyone close to him had predicted a bright future, yet a series of health issues bogged him down, leaving his promising career on the pro circuit on uncertain ground. However, Buyunchaokete proved his doubters wrong, big time, with two showstopping deep runs at home tournaments over the past two weeks.
The 22-year-old, hailing from China's Mongolian ethnic group, has fought his way from obscurity to stardom with two straight semifinal appearances on the ATP Tour, first in Hangzhou on Sept 23, and again in Beijing on Tuesday.
His surprising, second consecutive deep run — which was stopped by two-time major winner and world No 1 Jannik Sinner in Beijing — made Buyunchaokete, known as Bu to his growing legion of fans, the first Chinese man to enter the final-four at the ATP500 China Open, and the first to reach that stage at back-to-back ATP tournaments.
This year's Hangzhou Open was only his second ATP Tour event, following last year's wild-card entry at the Shanghai Masters. At the major level, he only managed to make his Grand Slam main-draw debut at the US Open in late August, after starting the season ranked as far back as 171st in the world.
From now on, though, it will be a whole new ball game for the ambitious and tenacious young man.
"I am quite tired today, feeling like I've run out of gas, and my serve was probably the worst (it has been this week)," Bu said of his brave 6-3, 7-6 (3) loss to Sinner in the semifinals on Tuesday — a match which coincided with China's National Day celebrations.
"Still, he only managed to break me once, and I put him under a lot of pressure on the baseline. I think I did a good job."
He sure did.
The daring underdog, cheered on enthusiastically by the partisan crowd at the packed Diamond Court, pushed the defending champion almost to the limit with a resilient game, especially in the second set, when Sinner had to step up an extra gear to outlast the home favorite in long rallies.
The Italian star, who is one year Bu's senior, joined the clapping crowd to acknowledge his opponent when Bu left the court to a standing ovation.
"I felt like he's an all-around, very good player. It's tough to play against him," Sinner said of Bu's game at the post-match news conference.
"He's a very solid player. He kept his level throughout the whole match, which is also sometimes tough to see... He doesn't really have any big weaknesses. Forehand, backhand, good serve, also the return game is very good. You have to earn every point you play. Physically he's good.
"Obviously, there are things he can, and will for sure, improve. He's making his breakthrough a little bit this year, the last couple of months, and hopefully he keeps going.
"He's obviously also very, very young. I have the feeling that we will see him more and more on the biggest stages."
Buyunchaokete hits autographed tennis balls into the stands after beating Andrey Rublev of Russia in a China Open quarterfinal match on Monday. [Photo/Xinhua]
Unlikely pathway
Born into underprivileged circumstances in the remote Bortala Mongolian autonomous prefecture in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Bu learned how to ride horses long before he even had any clue of what tennis was. But his talent for the sport was discovered by Luo Yong, a junior tennis coach from Zhejiang province, who met the five-year-old Bu for the first time at an SOS children's village in Urumqi.
A three-year junior program at a club in Huzhou, Zhejiang province, saw Bu's innate gift flourish under the disciplined tutelage and caring support of Luo, who became an adopted father-figure, until the provincial team, overseen by his current coach Yu Jinxing, brought him into a more serious, full-time training program in 2011.
From there, Bu's evolving game and commitment to training began to convince his coaches, friends, and even opponents, that the prodigy would have a bright future on the pro circuit. This was evidenced by his strong junior performances, including an under-14 title he won at the prestigious Orange Bowl junior championships, and a second-round upset of Danish former world No 4 Holger Rune at the 2019 Australian Open boys' tournament.
"He always has a high standard himself for training and competition, asking even more of himself than what I would normally ask of him," coach Yu said of Bu's progress during the Hangzhou Open.
"He's strict with himself, always trying to achieve perfection. Whenever he doesn't reach his own standards, he starts over again. He's committed to achieving his goals."
The arrival of the pandemic, however, derailed Bu during his critical transition from junior events and the entry-level ITF adult circuit to the competitive ATP Tour, with a series of injuries also putting his rise on hold.
Adversity, however, only fueled him to make a sharper climb up the pro ranks when, returning to action healthy and motivated in 2023, he collected three entry-level ATP Challenger titles, all paving the way to stealing the show at the start of this year's China swing.
"I've never felt so confident in myself, having exceeded my own expectations so far. Yet, I knew I had to stay focused and take care of business on a daily basis," Bu said after defeating Russian world No 6 Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals at the China Open on Monday.
The straight-sets upset of Rublev, who holds 16 ATP singles titles, was Bu's first career win over a top-10 opponent and built quickly on his first defeat of a top-20 opponent, Italy's 18th-ranked Lorenzo Musetti, in the second round.
"Perhaps it's time for me to readjust my goals and set a higher target," said Bu, who had climbed to No 69 on ATP's live rankings by the end of his China Open campaign.
