Zhu Lin (tennis)

Zhu Lin
朱琳

Zhu at the 2023 US Open
Country (sports)	China
Residence	Beijing, China
Born	(1994-01-28) 28 January 1994 (age 30) Wuxi, China
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Turned pro	2012
Plays	Right (two handed-backhand)
Prize money	$3,184,005
Singles
Career record	402–278 (59.1%)
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 31 (18 September 2023)
Current ranking	No. 56 (8 April 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	4R (2023)
French Open	1R (2019, 2021, 2022, 2023)
Wimbledon	2R (2021)
US Open	3R (2023)
Doubles
Career record	137–153 (47.2%)
Career titles	1
Highest ranking	No. 80 (2 October 2023)
Current ranking	No. 125 (18 March 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (2024)
French Open	2R (2022)
Wimbledon	3R (2023)
US Open	2R (2023)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	7–4 (63.6%)
Medal record Women's tennis Representing  China Asian Games 2022 Hangzhou Singles
Last updated on: 23 March 2024.

Zhu Lin (Chinese: 朱琳; pinyin: Zhū Lín; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʈʂú lǐn] ^ⓘ; born 28 January 1994) is a Chinese professional tennis player. On 18 September 2023, Zhu reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 31. She attained her best WTA doubles ranking of No. 80 on 2 October 2023. Zhu has won the 2023 Thailand Open in singles and the 2019 Jiangxi Open in doubles.^[1] She has also won one singles and one doubles title in WTA 125 tournaments, as well as 15 singles and six doubles titles on the ITF Circuit.^[2]

Playing for China Fed Cup team, Zhu has a win–loss record of 7–4.^[3]

Early life and background[edit]

Zhu Lin was born on 28 January 1994 to Zhu Jiangming and Chen Yunqi in Wuxi, China. Her father introduced her to tennis at age four. She has a very aggressive style of play, and her signature shot and also favorite shot is forehand. Her tennis idol growing up was Martina Hingis.^[4]

Junior career[edit]

Zhu debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in September 2009 at the age of 15 at the China Junior 1 Open, where she also reached her first singles final. She lost that match against Turkish player Melis Sezer, in straight sets. The following week, she played at China Junior 2 Open, where she also had success, reaching the semifinals in both singles and doubles. She continued having success in her next tournament, where she won the title in singles and reached semifinals in doubles in the 2009 Widjojo Soejono Semen Gresik Junior Championships. The next week, Zhu won her first doubles title and also reached the semifinal in singles at the Solo Open International Junior Championships. Toward the end of the year, she reached one singles final at the PHINMA International Juniors (week 2), where she lost, but won two doubles titles, at that tournament.

In January 2010, Zhu debuted at a junior Grand Slam tournament, playing at the Australian Open, where she was stopped in the third round by Kristýna Plíšková. In April 2010, she reached the quarterfinals at the Dunlop Japan Open Junior Championships, in both singles and doubles. At the end of May 2010, she played at the Asian Closed Junior Tennis Championships in New Delhi, India. There she reached the semifinal in singles and the final in doubles. In September 2010, she lost in the first round of the Junior US Open, in singles. Toward the end of the year, she won China Junior 2 - Xiamen in singles.

In January 2011, she played at the Australian Open, where she lost in the second round, in both singles and doubles. It was her last junior doubles tournament. Her last junior singles tournament was at the China Junior 10 Dalian, where she lost in the third round. Her highest junior combined ranking was 39, that she reached on 17 January 2011.^[5]

Professional career[edit]

2009–13: Playing on the ITF Circuit[edit]

Zhu made her debut on the ITF Circuit in June 2009, at Qianshan, China, where she was stopped in the second round. In October 2010, she played her first ITF final, at Nonthaburi, Thailand, but lost in that final from Nungnadda Wannasuk. Later, on 24 October, she won her first ITF singles title, at Khon Kaen, Thailand. In November 2010, she won her first doubles title, at Manila, Philippines. In 2011, Zhu won one ITF singles title, at Jakarta, Indonesia. In 2012, she reached only one final in singles, at Pattaya, Thailand which she lost. In 2013, she debuted at the WTA 125 tournaments, when she lost at the Suzhou Ladies Open in the first round in both category.

2014: Success at ITF events & WTA Tour debut[edit]

Zhu started the year in Antalya, Turkey, where she reached the final and lost to Lenka Wienerová. In March, she won a $10k event in Ankara defeating Iryna Shymanovich. In June, she won three consecutive tournaments: her first $25k level tournament in Belikpapan, Indonesia, then the $10k events in Tarakan and the following week in Solo, both Indonesia. She also reached her first significant final at the Xi'an Open, but lost to Duan Yingying. In August, she played her first Grand Slam qualifying; after defeating Giulia Gatto-Monticone and Arina Rodionova, she lost in the third round to Zheng Saisai. Zhu made her WTA Tour debut at the Hong Kong Open. Having entered the qualifying tournament, she defeated Wang Yafan, Raluca Olaru, and Elitsa Kostova for a spot in the main draw, where she subsequently recorded her first ever main-draw win on tour level by defeating Kristýna Plíšková in the first round, but was stopped in the second by Jana Čepelová. In September, Zhu played at the Premier-5 level Wuhan Open but failed to qualify. Next week, she played her first Premier Mandatory tournament, in the main draw of the China Open where she defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round, but lost to Simona Halep in the second.

2015: Major debut[edit]

In January, Zhu failed to qualify for the Australian Open. At the Indian Wells Open, she reached the second round by defeating Francesca Schiavone after a controversial call from the umpire,^[6][7] but then lost to Sara Errani.

She failed to qualify for the Miami Open, Madrid Open and French Open. Zhu made her major singles debut at Wimbledon, where she lost to Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich in three sets. At the US Open, she lost in the first round of qualifying.

2016: Success in doubles on the ITF Circuit[edit]

She won the title at the Launceston International, her first tournament in the year where she played doubles. In April at the $25k event in Kashiwa, Japan, she reached the final in doubles. In late July, she won the Lexington Challenger, partnering with Hiroko Kuwata. At the Wuhan Open, she failed to qualify in singles, but reached the second round in doubles together with Han Xinyun, they lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová. At the China Open, she also failed to qualify in singles, and in doubles, she was eliminated in the first round. In November, she reached her first $100k final in doubles at the Shenzhen Open, but lost with Han Xinyun against You Xiaodi and Nina Stojanović.

2019–20: First major win & WTA Tour doubles title, top 100 debut[edit]

At the Dubai Championships, Zhu made one of her biggest wins, defeating reigning Doha champion Elise Mertens, but lost in the second round to Lesia Tsurenko.^[8] On 25 February 2019, she entered the top 100 in singles, reaching world No. 93.^[9]

After losing six first-round matches, Zhu clinched her first singles victory at a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, beating compatriot teenager Wang Xinyu in straight sets, before she lost to Madison Keys in the second round.^[10]

In September, she played her first WTA Tour final, at the 2019 Jiangxi International Open, where she and Wang Xinyu defeated Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai in an all-Chinese final.^[11]

2021: First WTA Challenger singles title[edit]

In December, she won her first singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour in Seoul, defeating Kristina Mladenovic in the final.^[12]

2022: WTA 1000 and top 60 debuts[edit]

At the Guadalajara Open, she defeated Alizé Cornet in the first round. She followed up this win with a loss against Daria Kasatkina in the second round. Two weeks later, she reached her then career-high singles ranking of 58.^[4]

2023: Major fourth round, first top-10 win & WTA Tour title, singles top 50 & doubles top 100[edit]

The start of the season was promising for Zhu. In the opening week, she reached the quarterfinal at the Auckland Open after defeating Venus Williams.^[4] Her journey continued at the Australian Open where she reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam championship for the first time in her career, and also defeated two seeds on the way, 32nd seed Jil Teichmann and sixth seed Maria Sakkari, her first top-10 win.^[13][4] She lost a tight three-set match to Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round.^[14]

In Hua Hin, Thailand, she defeated seventh seed Wang Xinyu in the semifinals with whom she reached the doubles final at the same tournament.^[15] She won her first WTA Tour singles title defeating Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in the final.^[16] As a result, she reached new career-high rankings of No. 41 in singles and No. 90 in doubles, on 6 February 2023.

In doubles, she reached the third round at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, partnering Taiwanese Wu Fang-hsien.

After reaching for the first time the third round at the US Open and following that finishing as runner-up at the Japan Women's Open in Osaka, she achieved a career-high of No. 31 in singles and No. 82 in doubles, on 18 September 2023.^[17]

2024[edit]

She also reached the third round in doubles at the 2024 Australian Open, again partnering Wu Fang-hsien.^[18]

Performance timelines[edit]

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Billie Jean King Cup, United Cup, Hopman Cup and Olympic Games are included in win–loss records.^[19]

Singles[edit]

Current through the 2023 China Open.

Doubles[edit]

Current through the 2023 Canadian Open.

WTA Tour finals[edit]

Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)[edit]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Feb 2023	Hua Hin Championships, Thailand	WTA 250	Hard	Lesia Tsurenko	6–4, 6–4
Loss	1–1	Sep 2023	Japan Women's Open, Japan	WTA 250	Hard	Ashlyn Krueger	3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Loss	1–2	Feb 2024	Hua Hin Championships, Thailand	WTA 250	Hard	Diana Shnaider	3–6, 6–2, 1–6

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)[edit]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Sep 2019	Jiangxi International, China	International[f]	Hard	Wang Xinyu	Peng Shuai Zhang Shuai	6–2, 7–6(7–5)
Loss	1–1	Feb 2022	Abierto Zapopan, Mexico	WTA 250	Hard	Wang Xinyu	Kaitlyn Christian Lidziya Marozava	5–7, 3–6
Loss	1–2	Feb 2023	Hua Hin Championships, Thailand	WTA 250	Hard	Wang Xinyu	Chan Hao-ching Wu Fang-hsien	1–6, 6–7(6–8)

WTA Challenger finals[edit]

Singles: 1 (title)[edit]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1–0	Dec 2021	Seoul Open, South Korea	Hard (i)	Kristina Mladenovic	6–0, 6–4

Doubles: 1 (title)[edit]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1–0	Apr 2017	Zhengzhou Open, China	Hard	Han Xinyun	Jacqueline Cako Julia Glushko	7–5, 6–1

ITF Circuit finals[edit]

Singles: 27 (15 titles, 12 runner–ups)[edit]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2010	ITF Nonthaburi, Thailand	10,000	Hard	Nungnadda Wannasuk	4–6, 1–6
Win	1–1	Oct 2010	ITF Khon Kaen, Thailand	10,000	Hard	Luksika Kumkhum	6–3, 6–2
Win	2–1	May 2011	ITF Jakarta, Indonesia	10,000	Hard	Nadia Abdalá	7–6, 6–3
Loss	2–2	Jun 2012	ITF Pattaya, Thailand	10,000	Hard	Anna Tyulpa	4–6, 2–6
Loss	2–3	Feb 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	10,000	Clay	Lenka Wienerová	7–5, 4–6, 4–6
Win	3–3	Mar 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	10,000	Clay	Iryna Shymanovich	6–1, 6–4
Loss	3–4	May 2014	ITF Tianjin, China	25,000	Hard	Wang Qiang	3–6, 2–6
Win	4–4	May 2014	ITF Balikpapan, Indonesia	25,000	Clay	Ankita Raina	7–5, 2–6, 6–3
Win	5–4	Jun 2014	ITF Tarakan, Indonesia	10,000	Hard	Wang Yan	4–6, 6–0, 6–2
Win	6–4	Jun 2014	ITF Solo, Indonesia	10,000	Hard	Lavinia Tananta	6–0, 6–0
Loss	6–5	Jun 2014	ITF Xi'an, China	50,000	Hard	Duan Yingying	6–4, 6–7, 4–6
Loss	6–6	Dec 2014	ITF Hong Kong, China SAR	50,000	Hard	Yang Zhaoxuan	6–4, 6–4
Loss	6–7	Apr 2016	Kōfu International, Japan	25,000	Hard	Susanne Celik	6–7(3–7), 3–6
Loss	6–8	May 2017	Kangaroo Cup Gifu, Japan	80,000	Hard	Magdaléna Rybáriková	2–6, 3–6
Win	7–8	May 2017	Jin'an Open, China	60,000	Hard	Ankita Raina	6–3, 3–6, 6–4
Loss	7–9	Jul 2017	ITF Tianjin, China	25,000	Hard	Wang Yafan	4–6, 2–6
Win	8–9	May 2018	Jin'an Open, China (2)	60,000	Hard	Liu Fangzhou	6–0, 6–2
Win	9–9	Aug 2018	Jinan International, China	60,000	Hard	Wang Yafan	6–4, 6–1
Win	10–9	Jan 2019	ITF Singapore, Singapore	25,000	Hard	Han Na-lae	6–2, 6–3
Loss	10–10	Aug 2019	Landisville Challenge, United States	60,000	Hard	Madison Brengle	4–6, 5–7
Loss	10–11	Oct 2019	Suzhou Ladies Open, China	100,000	Hard	Peng Shuai	2–6, 6–3, 2–6
Win	11–11	Nov 2019	Liuzhou Open, China	60,000	Hard	Arina Rodionova	2–6, 6–0, 6–1
Win	12–11	Nov 2019	Shenzhen Longhua Open, China	100,000	Hard	Peng Shuai	6–3, 1–3 ret.
Loss	12–12	Jan 2020	ITF Hong Kong, China SAR	25,000	Hard	Zarina Diyas	4–6, 5–7
Win	13–12	Mar 2022	Guanajuato Open, Mexico	60,000+H	Hard	Rebecca Marino	6–4, 6–1
Win	14–12	Apr 2022	ITF Monastir, Tunisia	25,000	Hard	Victoria Mboko	6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Win	15–12	Aug 2022	Landisville Challenge, United States	100,000	Hard	Elizabeth Mandlik	6–2, 6–3

Doubles: 10 (6 titles, 4 runner–ups)[edit]

Result	W–L	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	0–1	Oct 2010	ITF Pattaya, Thailand	10,000	Hard	Juan Ting-fei	Chen Yi Varatchaya Wongteanchai	5–7, 2–6
Win	1–1	Nov 2010	ITF Manila, Philippines	10,000	Hard	Yang Zhaoxuan	Kim Ji-young Kim Jin-hee	6–4, 6–7(5–7), [10–7]
Win	2–1	Feb 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	10,000	Hard	Li Yihong	Gabriela Talabă Patricia Maria Țig	6–2, ret.
Win	3–1	Feb 2014	ITF Antalya, Turkey	10,000	Hard	Li Yihong	Nicoleta-Cătălina Dascălu Raluca Șerban	3–6, 6–3, [10–3]
Win	4–1	Feb 2016	Launceston International, Australia	75,000	Hard	You Xiaodi	Nadiia Kichenok Mandy Minella	2–6, 7–5, [10–7]
Loss	4–2	Apr 2016	ITF Kashiwa, Japan	25,000	Hard	You Xiaodi	Yang Zhaoxuan Zhang Kailin	5–7, 6–2, [9–11]
Win	5–2	Jul 2016	Lexington Challenger, United States	50,000	Hard	Hiroko Kuwata	Sophie Chang Alexandra Mueller	6–0, 7–5
Loss	5–3	Nov 2016	Shenzhen Longhua Open, China	100,000	Hard	Han Xinyun	Nina Stojanović You Xiaodi	4–6, 6–7(6–8)
Loss	5–4	Apr 2017	Blossom Cup, China	60,000	Hard	Hiroko Kuwata	Han Xinyun Ye Qiuyu	3–6, 3–6
Win	6–4	Jun 2019	Manchester Trophy, UK	100,000	Grass	Duan Yingying	Robin Anderson Laura Ioana Paar	6–4, 6–3

Head-to-head record[edit]

Record against top 10 players[edit]

• She has a 2–10 (17%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.

Result	W–L	Opponent	Rank	Event	Surface	Round	Score	Rank	H2H
2014
Loss	0–1	Simona Halep	No. 2	China Open, China	Hard	2R	5–7, 4–6	No. 167	0–1
2015
Loss	0–2	Caroline Wozniacki	No. 5	Malaysian Open, Malaysia	Hard	2R	4–6, 1–6	No. 122	0–2
2017
Loss	0–3	Elina Svitolina	No. 3	China Open, China	Hard	1R	3–6, 2–6	No. 118	0–2
2019
Loss	0–4	Karolína Plíšková	No. 3	Wimbledon Championships, UK	Grass	1R	2–6, 6–7(4–7)	No. 101	0–2
Loss	0–5	Madison Keys	No. 9	US Open, United States	Hard	2R	4–6, 1–6	No. 122	0–1
2023
Loss	0–6	Coco Gauff	No. 7	Auckland Open, New Zealand	Hard	QF	3–6, 2–6	No. 84	0–1
Win	1–6	Maria Sakkari	No. 6	Australian Open, Australia	Hard	3R	7–6(7–3), 1–6, 6–4	No. 87	1–1
Loss	1–7	Iga Świątek	No. 1	Wimbledon Championships, UK	Grass	1R	1–6, 3–6	No. 34	0–1
Win	2–7	Caroline Garcia	No. 7	Tennis in the Land, United States	Hard	QF	6–4, 6–1	No. 48	1–1
2024
Loss	2–8	Aryna Sabalenka	No. 2	Brisbane International, Australia	Hard	3R	1–6, 0–6	No. 33	0–4
Loss	2–9	Elena Rybakina	No. 4	TotalEnergies Open, Qatar	Hard	2R	2–6, 1–6	No. 57	1–2
Loss	2–10	Jessica Pegula	No. 5	Miami Open, United States	Hard	2R	4–6, 1–4 ret.	No. 63	0–2

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zhu Lin.

• Zhu Lin at the Women's Tennis Association
• Zhu Lin at the International Tennis Federation
• Zhu Lin at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Zhu Lin on Weibo (in Chinese)