ROLEX SHANGHAI MASTERS

October 2, 2024

Bu Yunchaokete

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Bu Yunchaokete. We will start with questions in English.

Q. Firstly, could you just start by talking about what it feels like to be here at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Just super exciting, because I have my first time in last year here. Yeah, I have some great match here. Yeah, I feel good. Honestly, I feel I have the confidence just as I arrive here, everything is okay for me, and I will have practice later, so I will know more.

Q. Obviously it's been an incredible couple of weeks for you. What has clicked for you, what's come together so well in your game?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Honestly, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm playing at home, and more people support me, and I am more confident or whatever, but, yeah, the results are coming, so I just trust myself and I just keep going.

Q. Are you inspired by all of your Chinese countrymen who are also doing very well? Does that sort of help you as well?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: A hundred percent. I mean, we push each other always, and we believe in each other always, so that makes us getting better. That's also getting more Chinese people getting better in tennis on the tour, so that's a really good thing.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Chinese.

Q. Any expectations on the Rolex Shanghai Masters? How fit are you physically?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: To be honest, I haven't thought about that a lot. I think perhaps I'm already approaching my limits, not in terms of my performance, but I think I do feel a little bit tired, perhaps not as excited or energetic as a few weeks before.

I just arrived in Shanghai, so I want to make full use of this afternoon and tomorrow to try to adjust myself, so hopefully on the day after tomorrow I can be physically fit to welcome my first match here.

Q. Could you talk about your match with the No. 1 seed player, and then what's the meaning of this match with Sinner?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Yeah, he is now No. 1. We have other players who are in the No. 1 position, but for Jannik, he is a great player. I think this is definitely a very good experience for me to have this match with Jannik at the semis in the China Open. Hopefully, that was a great match to all the spectators.

Sadly, I lost the match, but this is a rare experience, and I will summarize and review the match and hopefully next time I can do better.

Q. Congratulations on your performance in China Open. My question is, you started training with Li Zhe since you come to China. What improvement did you get, and will your cooperation with Li Zhe continue to overseas matches, or is it only for China?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Well, for these two to three months in China, but it depends on my physical condition. Over the past few years, my foreign coach helped me a lot. I want to congratulate him because he succeeded in proposing, or got married, so he didn't have time to come to Asia. My cooperation with him is very good, we know each other, he knows me very well, so this collaboration is very good. We are complementary to each other, very efficient. Coach Yu also knows me a lot. In my cooperation with him I have not a lot to worry about. My foreign coach started to help me since the time I was around 300 to 400 in ranking, so I would love to work with both of them, more with Li Zhe in China or Asia. Although the condition of the player is important, that of the coach is equally important, a coach can also help me be in the top of my game.

Q. Are we going to see any changes in some commercial activities while you are having a very good performance?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: My manager is there as well. I'm very busy, so if you have anything to talk about, you can contact him.

Q. Congratulations on your performance in the China Open. Not only you, but Zhang Zhizhen, Shang Juncheng, over the past few years, these Chinese players have did very good performance over the past few years. What do you think is the reason for Chinese tennis players to perform so well?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Well, it's just a few years since the pandemic. I think what we did in the past few years is one of the reasons, and then we are very brave, we are very happy to go to other markets to play tennis. These experiences can improve our performance, and they are also very helpful for us to grow as a person. Different people have different ways to improve and to grow, but we learn from each other. I learn from Zhang Zhizhen or Jerry Shang, yeah, we learn from each other.

Q. You have breakthroughs in China Open this year. Are you experiencing stress because of that, and for those who are learning tennis, what kind of role do you think you can play?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Talking about stress, I think it's okay. For me, the most important thing is to enjoy tennis, to realize my objective. Of course, after I crack the top 100 I will give myself a new objective, and then I will try hard to achieve that. Apart from that, I don't think too much about that.

Q. Jannik is now world No. 1, and we also have Carlos, they are now in a great condition. You are of the same age or era with them, perhaps you knew each other while you played the junior tournaments, so how would you think about that?

BU YUNCHAOKETE: Yes, I think we knew each other while we were younger. This is great, emotionally, when we play against each other. I will feel more relaxed playing with them than playing with Djokovic, for example. I will focus most on enjoying the tennis.