Zhang Shuai is a Chinese professional tennis player who was born on January 21, 1989, in Tianjin, China. At the age of 6, she first picked up a racquet when her parents took her to her local club. She was instantly hooked on the sport and enjoyed quick progress up the ranks.
Following a successful junior career, she was itching to go pro, and her dream was finally accomplished in 2003. During the first years of her time on tour, she was becoming comfortable at the ITF level, winning numerous titles, but a coveted full-time spot on the WTA main draw proved harder to come by for the woman from China.
Despite finding it initially tricky to break through amongst the women’s elite, she finally managed to prove her worth ten years after turning pro and won her first WTA title at the 2013 Guangzhou Open. Success did not come pouring in for the Chinese lady straight after her first title, with her having to wait until 2017 before she won her second at the same tournament as it happens.
In the meantime, she had achieved some stellar performances elsewhere on tour, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal at the Australian Open. Towards the end of the decade, she started to turn the bulk of her attention to her doubles game.
Success came in bucketloads for Zhang, who won the Australian Open title in the women’s doubles tournament in 2019 before claiming the US Open trophy in 2021. 2022 proved a successful season for Zhang, too, with her reaching the Wimbledon women’s doubles final as well as the semifinals in the mixed at both the Australian and US Opens.
It was not just in the doubles where her game saw success in 2022, either, as she claimed her third and latest WTA singles title at the Lyon Open, shortly after then she reached her career-high ranking of world number 2 in doubles, before claiming the 22nd spot in singles.
