BU Yunchaokete ultimately lost to top-ranked Jannik Sinner but his journey from rescued child to the semi-finals captivated the China Open and earmarked him for a bright future.
Playing at home, the all-action 22-year-old has enjoyed a breakthrough fortnight and recorded a number of personal firsts.
He reached the last four in Hangzhou last week for his best performance on the ATP Tour, before losing to fellow Chinese player Zhang Zhizhen.
With his confidence growing and the Beijing crowd behind him, Bu then defeated Lorenzo Musetti and sixth-ranked Andrey Rublev, both in straight sets, on the way to the semi-finals in the Chinese capital.
Bu came into Beijing on a career-high ranking of 96 and made life difficult for the world number one Sinner before going down fighting 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).
The 23-year-old Italian, the defending champion and recent US Open winner, called it “a very tough and tricky match”.
It was the first time they had faced each other on tour and Sinner was impressed with Bu, who will break into the world’s top 70 for the first time after his Beijing exploits.
“He was very solid. He doesn’t really have big weaknesses – forehand, backhand, good serve, also the return game is very good.
“You have to earn every point you play (against him). Physically he’s good.
“I felt like he was everywhere. It’s tough to face him; he has achieved good results in the last month. He is also very young, and I have a feeling that we will see more of him on these bigger stages.”
Sinner is only a bit older than Bu and has already won 16 ATP titles, two of them Grand Slams.
Bu Yunchaokete signs autographs for fans after winning the men’s singles quarter-final match against Russia’s Andrey Rublev at the China Open on Sept 30. — AFP
But unlike many tennis stars who are earmarked for the top from a young age and get the treatment to match it, Bu’s path has been very different.
More recently, the pandemic also stunted his development on court at a crucial moment.
Much more is to come, he says.
“This is only my third year in the professional tour,” he said after the biggest match of his life.
“I started quite late. I turned pro quite late.”
He played his first professional match in 2019 but really started his career in 2022.
Although Bu won 87 matches on the Futures and Challenger circuits during that 2022 season, going into 2024 he had picked up just a single victory at the ATP level (via retirement against Miomir Kecmanovic at the 2023 Shanghai Masters).
Yunchaokete made his Grand Slam debut at the US Open.
He successfully came through three rounds of qualifying to seal his maiden major main draw spot, falling in straight sets to eighth seed and former finalist Casper Ruud.
Bu has amassed a legion of new fans not only with his exploits, but also because of the route he took from humble and difficult beginnings.
“The path I have taken is different from others,” he said.
His name is Mongolian and he is from the far-western region of Xinjiang.
According to Chinese media, his father died and, after his mother remarried, he lived with his grandparents.
In hope of a better life, his grandparents send a young Bu to a children’s charity village in Urumqi to receive a formal education.
It was there that he started playing tennis and was ultimately scouted by a coach, and moved to Huzhou for training.
It was the start of a tortuous route towards elite tennis that took him to eastern China aged five and ended with him as the first Chinese man to reach the Beijing semi-finals.
“You could see the desire and fighting spirit in his eyes,” Yu Jinxing, who would become his life-long coach, told Xinhua news agency.
Bu’s idol is the three-time major champion Andy Murray, who recently retired after a series of injuries and was renowned for his never-say-die attitude.
“His belief in success despite failures resonates with me,” Xinhua quoted Bu as saying.
“More people know me now, so I have to keep a good balance and focus on what I need to do on the court,” Bu said about his rising popularity.
“Starting from the ground up has grounded me,” he added.
“It may be slower, but it’s solid.”
Bu also spoke about the challenges he has faced on the professional tour.
“I was able to rely solely on some of my existing skills to win quite a few matches before,but after entering the professional circuit, I realised I needed to improve and break through in terms of my offensive power. It’s under this kind of pressure that I keep pushing myself to try new things,” he told reporters.
“Modern tennis requires explosiveness and creativity. That’s the biggest change I’ve made in the two years since I turned pro.” — Agencies
