Student Qian swept to victory, making up for past regrets; the Chinese Tennis Association does not cover up, and a famous journalist’s photo is worth 20,000.

In just three minutes daily, stay informed about global tennis. Hello tennis fans, today is Monday, December 22, 2025. Welcome to the news midday report brought to you by "Tennis Home."

Early this morning Beijing time, the ATP Next Gen Finals ended brilliantly. In the final match, top seed and last year’s runner-up, Lenar Qian, dominated second seed Brookes with a 4-3(4), 4-2, 4-1 straight-sets victory, winning 3-0 and finally lifting the championship trophy after two finals appearances, making up for last year’s disappointment.

This season, young Qian has made rapid progress. He reached the round of 16 at the Australian Open, made his first tour final at the China Open, then won his first career title at Metz in France. He defeated five top-10 players throughout the year, boosting his year-end world ranking from 122 last year to 28. In Jeddah, after losing his group stage debut, he bounced back strongly, winning four consecutive matches to claim the title. Congratulations to him!

The ATP Next Gen Finals are known as a cradle for future stars; previously, players like Tsitsipas, Sinner, and Alcaraz have all stood atop this podium. Therefore, student Qian also has a promising future ahead.

Additionally, during the Next Gen Finals, Spanish legend Nadal visited Jeddah to participate in events organized by the tournament and interacted with fans.

During the event, Nadal also met and chatted with two young Spanish players, Landaluce and Hodar, took friendly photos, and encouraged them to keep working hard to achieve great results in the 2026 season.

Let’s turn to the incident involving a Chinese player’s rule violation and subsequent punishment. One day ago, the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed that Chinese tennis player Pang Renlong was banned for 12 years and fined $110,000 (with $70,000 suspended) for manipulating or attempting to manipulate matches. The Chinese Tennis Association then issued a statement addressing this matter.

The Chinese Tennis Association stated, “As the national governing body for the sport, we firmly oppose any behavior that undermines the integrity of the sport or fair competition. We will take further action against the athlete based on the facts of the violation, in accordance with national laws, regulations, and industry rules.”

Pang Renlong, aged 25, has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 1316. According to the announcement, Pang has accepted the ITIA’s sanction and will not appeal. His suspension started on November 7, 2024, and will last until November 6, 2036. If the punishment remains unchanged, this player’s professional career is effectively over.

Now, let’s look at other news. Recently, in a media interview, American legend Chris Evert named her top five greatest female tennis players in history: first, Serena Williams; second, Navratilova; third, Graf; fourth, Margaret Court; and fifth, Billie Jean King. She did not include herself, although she certainly qualifies for the all-time top five. Do you have any thoughts on this ranking?

Next, some current updates. Recently, in the ITF’s annual best photography award, Australian journalist Jubilo’s photo of Italian star Paolini won by a large margin. Jubilo will receive a prize of $3,000, approximately 21,100 RMB.

Finally, let’s play a guessing game. The photo below shows a player preparing to dive. Without any hints, can you recognize who he is?

In the last guessing game, some fans gave the correct answer. That’s right, the person in the picture is Chinese star Wu Yibing.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Lone Maverick)