Soon, everyone will want a piece of Jimmy Wang (王宇佐), Taiwan's tennis prodigy and likely its first genuinely successful international athlete.
Nike has already got a piece of him, racket manufacturers have bought in and the largest sports agents in the world are investing in his future.
They are keen to pay the price of Wang's success, not only because he is a winner but because the sport needs him.
He won the Taiwan Open last week for the fourth time in a row, beating 22-year-old Chang Wen-lung (
The opener was a close-fought affair, with Cheng sending down big, booming serves that resulted in 15 aces. But there was nothing he could do against Wang's pinpoint return of serve and his speed around the court.
Agression
PHOTO: JULES QUARTLY, TAIPEI TIMES
"Sometimes Jimmy settles down after he wins," Wang's agent at IMG management John Cappo said. "This time he was really aggressive, putting up big accurate backhands and closing the match out."
In September, Wang narrowly lost in the final of the US Open to 18-year-old Gilles Muller.
For many it was a breakthrough performance, but Wang has been consistently successful since he first entered tournaments at age 11.
At 12, he was the first ethnic Chinese in 24 years to win the US Festival Cup, taking the category for 12-year-olds.
He has represented Taiwan since 1999 and was a world champion at 15. He was also a runner-up at the Australian Open and a semifinalist at Wimbledon in the juniors section.
Taiwan has never had a top-level athlete.
The nearest thing at the moment is PFP legislator-elect and basketball player Cheng Chih-long (鄭志龍), who has just retired from the game and was once a top-five contender in Asia.
Taiwan's defining moment on the Olympic stage was "Flying Antelope" Chi Cheng's (紀政) bronze medal in the 80m hurdles at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.
Otherwise, it has been mainly disappointment. Baseball became mired in corruption in the 1990s and lost its popularity after a bright start; the nation's best table tennis player, Chen Jing (陳靜), is from Hubei province in China.
Jimmy Wang could be the Great Taiwanese Hope.
He was born to Taiwanese parents, lives in Taipei and describes himself as coming from "Chinese-Taipei" -- a reference to the flag he plays under at international tournaments.
It was his father who taught him to play tennis when he was seven years old, by hitting a ball against a wall. He was called Jimmy by one of his tennis coaches.
But Wang also sees himself as Chinese and it is this aspect -- in addition to his undoubted ability and youth -- which has got Nike and the world's largest sports agency hooked.
Last year, Nike missed out on Andy Roddick, so it went all out for the next budding US teen and signed Brendan Evans for around US$750,000.
Doubling the bet
Nike doubled up by wagering on Wang -- who may not have got as much cash as Evans, but could turn out to be the better bet.
If he is successful (and incidentally, Wang beat Evans when they played), then the companies that back him will have better access to the Asian and China market.
Michael Chang, for instance, is from the US state of New Jersey and cannot speak Chinese, but he has been one of Asia's few sports pinups on the back of winning the French Open.
"Asians have a history of breaking through, like Wang Szu-ting (王思婷) [a Taiwan tennis player] , who was in the top 100 for a while, but they hover around there ... the goal with Jimmy is we are looking for top 10," John Cappo said.
"This has got to be the goal, if you're not top 10 you are nothing, you can make a good living yes, but you're not a star unless you are in the top 10."
The next two years are critical. Many players burn out in their mid-teens and when Wang joins the senior ATP tour at 18 he has got to deliver on his promise.
"This year I will not play many times, just do training really, maybe some tournaments in America," Wang said.
"I must think of getting better. Ranking is not very important right now, it is the training, just yourself and playing better tennis."
In Taiwan the facilities are lacking and there is no one to take Wang to the next level, so if he is to progress he will have to go to the US.
IMG is sending him to the Shaolin Temple for tennis professionals -- the Bollettieri Tennis Academy -- which has turned out Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Anna Kournikova, among others.
At the moment Wang is 176cm and about 55kg, which is fine for a 16-year-old on the circuit, but not enough to take on the men.
"My strengths as a player are that I do not make many mistakes. My return is not so bad and I am fast for my age," Wang said. "I have played in the seniors, but it is very tiring because I do not have the strength yet."
He will be put on a program: bulk up, work on the upper body, improve stamina, discuss winning with sports psychologists and follow a rigid diet.
"Everything we are doing now is geared up to when he is 18 years old and in the right mental and physical state and has the ability to take on the Roddicks, Safins and Hewitts," Cappo said.
The sports agent said that his company had been watching Wang since he was 13. "The key thing we look for, beside natural abilities, is mental attitude. Without it there is nothing we can do."
If the right mental attitude is a telescopic focus on tennis, then Cappo has got his young man.
Wang lists his hobbies as watching movies and playing computer games.
He does not have other interests -- not even girls.
"No, if I think of girls then I am not thinking about tennis," he said.
He has the backing of the giants in the sports industry and solid support at home.
The influence of his father, Wang Kuo-yen (
Wang senior used to play table tennis but picked up on tennis while he was working in Saudi Arabia.
He attended tennis coaching courses, took his son to local tournaments and coaches and paid for it all.
He is proud of his son and what they have achieved, but said that professional management and training in the US was the next logical step.
Father's hand
The secret of his son's success was, he said, "A feeling for the ball and for the game. I could see that he was good when I saw him play, so it was obvious that he should concentrate on it."
His main concern for the future is that his son, like other Asian players, is not aggressive or self-motivated enough about making it to the top.
He fears that his son will burn out and be just another promising young Asian player who fades in his teens.
His son does not share these worries. His mantra: "I just want to play tennis."
In terms of his physical progress, he has five years to achieve success on the senior tour, which is the age Lleyton Hewitt became No. 1 last year.
Wang compares himself to Hewitt partly because they are physically similar. "He is also a good finisher, has a big heart. He does not want to lose, not even one point. Like me," Wang said.
Time will tell if he can emulate or even surpass Hewitt's level of success.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS