Zhenzhen Zhu

Started: She took up the sport at age 16 in Shandong, People's Republic of China. (Athlete, 01 Jul 2016) Reason: She was active at school and was selected to train for sports such as swimming and tennis. She chose to focus on tennis because she liked it more. (3g.visitbeijing.com.cn, 18 Oct 2018) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (finance.sina.cn, 09 Jun 2024) Milestones: She became the first Chinese wheelchair tennis player to compete at a Grand Slam after participating in the 2020 Australian Open. (paralympic.org, 16 Jul 2020; tokyo2020.org, 11 Aug 2020; SportsDeskOnline, 11 Sep 2023) She and her teammate Huang Huimin became the first Chinese athletes to win gold in wheelchair tennis at the Asian Para Games when they claimed victory in the women's doubles at the 2018 Games in Indonesia. (SportsDeskOnline, 19 Mar 2020; paralympic.org, 19 Dec 2010, 18 Dec 2010) Additional Info: OTHER ACTIVITIES In November 2022 she was elected to serve on the International Tennis Federation [ITF] Wheelchair Tennis Player Council. She was elected on a two-year term from January 2023 to December 2024. (itftennis.com, 29 Nov 2022; mp.weixin.qq.com, 11 Feb 2023) PIONEER After becoming the first Chinese wheelchair tennis player to compete at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments when she took part in the 2020 Australian Open, she said that she is hoping to inspire more Chinese wheelchair tennis players through her achievements as well as by organising her own events. "There are likely to be more Chinese athletes participating in the four major events in the future. I want to organise wheelchair tennis events successfully in China through my efforts. I'm working on promoting wheelchair tennis. I hope that more people with disabilities in China can start playing this sport, although we are just in the planning stage and implementation is difficult. I love being an athlete and having the responsibility to make it possible for everyone to play the sport. I love embodying the Paralympic spirit of understanding, friendship, solidarity and fair play and transmitting these values in my everyday life." (paralympic.org, 16 Jul 2020)