Tennis is a rapidly growing sport that has received much private and public support in China, and has today become firmly entrenched in the Chinese as one of the most popular.
The nation's tennis market has reached $4 billion annually, according to Tom Cannon, a professor and sports finance expert at the University of Liverpool Management School in England.
Played at the Beijing Olympic Tennis Center with combined prize money of $6.6 million and a main stadium that holds 10,000 spectators, the China Open is now one of the WTA's top four tournaments.
Secondly, there has been the emergence of higher ranked players from other parts of Asia, such as Japan, India, Thailand and Indonesia all of whom spur competition and standard of play.
In 2003, at the Heineken Open in Shanghai, wildcards Zeng Shaoxuan and Zhu Benqiang made an important advance.
In 2006, more tennis history was written when Zheng Jie and Yan Zi won doubles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.
Li Na and Zheng Jie were also the first players to compete in an all-Chinese final - in Estoril (Portugal) in 2006.
During the 2010 Australian Open, Li Na and compatriot Zheng Jie made history for becoming the first two Chinese players to reach the top four of a Grand Slam tournament simultaneously.
On 1 December 2021, WTA suspended all tournaments in China amid concerns about the safety of the Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai.
The safety of Peng Shuai became a matter of international concern after she made sexual assault allegations against Zhang Gaoli, a former China vice-premier.
Li was the first Chinese player to break into the top 10 of the women's game and win a singles grand slam in 2011 at the French Open.
In 2006, Zheng and Yan Zi became the country's first Grand Slam champions, taking the women's doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.