Photo: Courtesy of organizers

Chinese male tennis players face uphill battles at the China Open, as three Chinese athletes Zhang Zhizhen, Shang Juncheng and Bu Yunchaokete go into the ATP 500 event as wildcard players.

Headlining the field are top seed Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev, Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti, but much of the local attention will be fixed on the Chinese trio. 

Zhang and Shang both landed qualifiers in the opening round, while Bu faces a daunting test against third-seed De Minaur, ranked No.8 in the world. Shang will also team up with Zhang in doubles, while Bu is pairing with Britain's Cameron Norrie to take on Zverev and Marcelo Melo.

In 2024, Bu stormed to the semifinals with wins over Shang, Musetti and Andrey Rublev, becoming the first Chinese mainland player to reach the quarterfinals in Beijing. A repeat run will require upsetting one of the tour's most consistent performers right from the start.

For Zhang and Shang, the tournament marks another step in their return from injury interruptions. 

"I feel pretty okay now. After almost half a year away, it felt good to come back," Zhang told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Asked about his current goals, Zhang, whose second-round opponent will be the winner between world No.1 Sinner and Croatian veteran Marin Cilic, stressed that his health remains the priority. 

"For now the goal is still mainly about staying healthy. Of course I always like playing to win, but it's not about breaking myself apart to do it," Zhang said. "We have a long season ahead, and next year is already part of the plan, so right now recovery and preparation are the focus."

Zhang, whose career high reached world No.31, also spoke candidly about the emerging competition among Chinese men's players. 

"Right now I'm still a little outside the 'wolf pack,' because I was away for six months while the others kept competing," the 28-year-old said. 

"But I believe we'll see more real competition soon. Wu Yibing [who stunned former world No.1] is almost fully fit again, Shang is healthy, and with me coming back along with Bu, it will finally feel like a group moving forward together. After this winter's training, I think next year we'll show something different," Zhang said.

For Shang, who recently scored a morale-boosting win in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, simply being back on court without pain is a victory. 

"This year has been tough because of injuries. For the past six months I was always struggling with them," he told reporters. "Last week I got my first win after surgery. Even though I didn't get the result I wanted in the end, I felt healthy, and that made me really happy."

Returning to his hometown adds an extra layer of emotion for Shang, whose father Shang Yi was a professional football player for local club Beijing Guoan. 

"Playing in China, especially in Beijing, feels so different for me. This is where I grew up and where I watched my first professional match, so it means a lot," Shang said. 

Shang also reflected on how the time away from tennis shaped him. 

"Before the injury, I never thought about what it would be like to stop competing or even to need surgery. This break gave me time to realize that life isn't only tennis, even though tennis connects to everything in my life," said Shang, who was the first player born in 2005 or later to win an ATP title after his ATP Chengdu Open win in 2024. 

"During recovery I tried to do everything 100 percent, training, rest and nutrition. That gave me the confidence to come back stronger," he said.

The men's main draw competitions for the China Open will start on Thursday, with the finals scheduled on October 1.