ZHU Zhenzhen

Classification
Open (itftennis.com, 05 Feb 2020)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (Athlete, 01 Jul 2016)

Impairment Details
She contracted osteomyelitis [a bone infection] at age two and became unable to walk. (3g.visitbeijing.com.cn, 18 Oct 2018)

General
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)

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)

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)