Tyson’s Chinese coaching career followed Deng Xiaoping’s 1992 southern tour, which cemented the country’s economic reform and opening up, as well as a cooling in tensions caused by the defection of female tennis player Hu Na to the US in 1982.
Des Tyson with the Chinese junior girls team, including future gold medallists Sun Tiantian (third from left) and Li Ting (second from right) in Guangzhou in 1995.
The kids called him “little ghost”, courtesy of his white skin and slight frame, which Tyson joked was only made slighter by his poor chopsticks skills.
He tried learning Mandarin but quickly found it was more efficient to have the tennis academy employ an interpreter to teach the young players English.
Among his charges in 1994 was a then 12-year-old Li Na, who would later win the 2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open, ensuring her status as one of China’s most iconic athletes of all time, alongside NBA star Yao Ming and Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang. (Tyson also coached Li one-on-one in 2007 ahead of the 2008 Olympics.)
China’s top-ranked player, Zheng Qinwen, was crowned the WTA’s newcomer of the year in 2022 and could go deep at this month’s Australian Open as her side of the draw opened up following the shock loss of Elena Rybakina in the second round. AP
And in 1995, Tyson coached Sun Tiantian and Li Ting, who ignited China’s fascination with tennis by winning a gold medal in doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
“In China, nothing is bigger than the Olympics,” explains prominent Chinese tennis writer Bendou Zhang on the sidelines at Melbourne Park.
“So when we won a gold medal, everything changed.”
Chinese interest in tennis is now booming, Zhang says, with successful players a source of national pride. Wealthy parents, he adds, also view tennis as a gateway to highly sought after scholarships to US colleges.
Chinese tennis has been led by female stars like Li Na, but Zhang says fans are now hungry for a hero in the men’s draw, adding further buzz to the rise of Shang.
Novak Djokovic couldn’t agree more, telling state news agency Xinhua in December: “The rise of the male players is vital for tennis in China.”
Zhang says the Australian Open plays a central role in China’s tennis obsession, given that Melbourne’s time difference means you can watch a final after dinner in Beijing, rather than waking up in the wee hours for Wimbledon.
The nation also has a fondness for Australian tennis players, he adds.
This includes Sam Stosur, who won two doubles grand slam titles with Chinese star Zhang Shuai, as well as Nick Kyrgios, but only after he made peace with Djokovic, who can string a few Mandarin phrases together and is astronomically popular in China.
Jerry Shang, the son of a professional footballer and champion table tennis player, on Thursday described Australian tennis great Lleyton Hewitt as a “legend”.
“I see him in the locker room … it’s actually pretty cool for me,” he said after winning his second round tie against Nagal, his best result at a grand slam.
“His playing style is [something] that I can maybe copy, too, because he was not the tallest guy, not the strongest guy on tour. [But] he was world No. 1.”
Zheng Qinwen, after beating Boulter, who is Britain’s top-ranked player and Alex de Minaur’s girlfriend, said she had been captivated by the Australian star’s speed.
“When I was playing the junior Australian Open, I saw him on TV. That was unbelievable because he runs so fast on court. That was insane,” she said.
“I hope on court I can be fast like him.”
Tyson returned to China to coach the junior national team from 2003 to 2010, with a boom in construction leaving Guangzhou nearly unrecognisable.
Des Tyson with members of the Chinese junior Federation Cup team, including future grand slam doubles champion and top 25 singles player Zhang Shuai (centre), in Bangkok in 2004.
He coached Zhang Shuai, and met a Chinese woman, Rose, in 2008, with the pair getting married in Melbourne in 2011.
Strolling around the Australian Open on Thursday (he’s now a coach with Tennis Australia, based in Melbourne), Tyson watched Chinese player Zhu Lin win her first round doubles match as Shang, Zheng, and Wang marched to the third round in singles.
“Everyone expects China to be a tennis powerhouse, but they only started competing seriously ahead of the Athens Olympics,” he said.
“I think what they’ve done since the 1990s is extraordinary. They’ve come a long way in a short time and I feel honoured to have played some small part in it.”