Li Tu

Last updated

Li Tu
Tu RGQ23 (52942973432).jpg
Tu at the 2023 French Open
Country (sports)Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Residence Adelaide, Australia
Born (1996-05-27) 27 May 1996 (age 28)
Adelaide, Australia
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Turned pro2014
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
Prize money$520,725
Singles
Career record1–8 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 186 (18 March 2024)
Current rankingNo. 194 (16 September 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open 1R (2021)
French Open Q2 (2024)
Wimbledon Q2 (2024)
US Open 1R (2024)
Doubles
Career record2–2 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 197 (9 January 2023)
Current rankingNo. 276 (16 September 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open 3R (2022)
Last updated on: 20 September 2024.

Li Tu (born 27 May 1996) is an Australian tennis player who mainly competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. Tu has career-high rankings by the ATP of 186 in singles, reached on 18 March 2024, and 197 in doubles, achieved on 9 January 2023. [1]

Contents

Career

20112014: Pro debut and retirement

Tu made his ITF Futures debut in February 2011 at the Australia F2. He played four other tournaments, losing in the first round in all.

Tu competed in the 2012 Junior Davis Cup alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis, later working as a tennis coach prior to his debut on the senior tour. [2]

In February 2014, he won his first match on ITF-level. In April 2014, Tu reached the quarterfinal of the Australia F5, his best result this level, but retired in June 2014. [3]

20202021: Return, ATP and Major debut, four ITF titles

In 2020, Tu was inspired to return to playing tennis and enjoyed success on the Australian UTR Pro Tennis Series. [3]

Tu made his ATP Tour debut at the 2021 Murray River Open, where he received a wildcard into the singles main draw. [4] Tu also made his Grand Slam debut at the 2021 Australian Open, after receiving a wildcard. He lost in the first round to Feliciano López. [5]

In August 2021, Tu won his first ITF title as an unranked qualifier at a M15 tournament in Tunisia. He was competing in his first international event since June 2014. [3] In September 2021, Tu won the singles and doubles titles at a tournament in Monastir, Tunisia. [6]

Tu ended the 2021 season with an ATP ranking of No. 521.

2022: Maiden Challenger title, top 200 debut

Tu lost in the first round of the 2022 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying. [7] He made his Grand Slam debut in doubles and reached the third round after receiving a wildcard with Dane Sweeny.

In May, he scooped an ITF title in Cairo and finished runner-up at another ITF event at Monastir, [8] winning 11 of his past 12 matches. He raised 55 places to a new career-high of world No. 342 on 9 May 2022. [9]

In July, Tu made his debut on the ATP Challenger Tour in Rome, Georgia, USA, where he lost to Yasutaka Uchiyama. The following week in Indianapolis, as an alternate, he won his first Challenger match against Michail Pervolarakis, but lost to Dominik Koepfer in the second round. He then made his first Challenger quarterfinal in Winnipeg, defeating seventh seed Gijs Brouwer in the second round, before losing to Enzo Couacaud. [ citation needed ] As a result he reached world No. 252 on 1 August 2022.

In October, Tu made his first Challenger semifinal in Seoul after qualifying by beating Cho Se-hyuk and Mukund Sasikumar. In the main draw, he beat Kaichi Uchida, fellow qualifier Naoki Nakagawa and the fifth seed, compatriot Christopher O'Connell. He defeated the sixth seed, compatriot James Duckworth in the semifinals to reach his first Challenger final. He defeated Wu Yibing in straight sets in the final. [10] As a result, he moved more than 100 positions up inside the top 200 in the rankings at world No. 190 on 17 October 2022.

2023: First ATP Tour win

In Newport, after qualifying for the main draw, Tu won his first match at ATP Tour level by beating Aleksandar Vukic in straight sets. This was also his first match win against a top 100 player. [11]

He entered the 2023 Mallorca Championships also as qualifier but lost his first round match against lucky loser Pavel Kotov.

He also entered the main draw at the 2023 Chengdu Open as a lucky loser and lost in the first round.

2024: US Open debut

He qualified for his home tournament, the 2024 Brisbane International.

He again qualified for the 2024 Hall of Fame Open. He also qualified for the main draw of the 2024 US Open making his debut at this Major. [12] In the first round, he lost to third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz in four sets.

Performance Timelines

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#P#DNQAZ#POGSBNMSNTIPNH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Tournament 2021 2022 2023 2024 SRW–LWin%
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R Q1 Q2 Q1 0 / 10–10%
French Open AA Q1 Q2 0 / 00–0  
Wimbledon AAA Q2 0 / 00–0  
US Open AAA 1R 0 / 10–10%
Win–loss0–10–00-00-10 / 20–20%

Personal life

Tu was born in Adelaide to Taiwanese immigrant parents. His mother, Yu Ping Zheng, died in 2022. [13]

ATP Challenger Tour finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–1)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0 Oct 2022 Seoul, South KoreaChallengerHard Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Wu Yibing 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Loss1–1 Jul 2024 Lexington, USAChallengerHard Flag of Brazil.svg João Fonseca 1–6, 4–6

Doubles: 1 (1 title)

Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0 Jul 2024 Chicago, USAChallengerHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Luke Saville Flag of the United States.svg Mac Kiger
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Benjamin Sigouin
6–4, 3–6, [10–3]

ITF World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Legend
ITF WTT (9–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (8–4)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Aug 2021M15 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of Argentina.svg Mateo Nicolás Martínez6–1, 6–1
Win2–0Sep 2021M15 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of Brazil.svg Gabriel Décamps 6–2, 6–1
Win3–0Sep 2021M15 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of Japan.svg Ryota Tanuma3–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win4–0Nov 2021M25 Saint-Dizier, FranceWTTHard (i) Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dane Sweeny 1–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win5–0Feb 2022M25 Bendigo, AustraliaWTTHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Andrew Harris 6–3, 6–1
Win6–0May 2022M25 Cairo, EgyptWTTClay Flag of the Northern Mariana Islands.svg Colin Sinclair 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Loss6–1May 2022M15 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of Tunisia.svg Skander Mansouri 4–6, 2–6
Win7–1May 2022M25 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of Tunisia.svg Skander Mansouri6–7(3–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Loss7–2Jul 2022M15 Waco, Texas, USAWTTHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Adam Walton 5–7, 6–0, 1–6
Win8–2Apr 2023M15 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of Portugal.svg Daniel Rodrigues3–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss8–3Apr 2023M15 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of Portugal.svg Duarte Vale 3–6, 0–3, ret.
Loss8–4Feb 2024M25 Traralgon, AustraliaWTTHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Omar Jasika 6–7(1–7), 2–6
Win9–4Mar 2024M25 Traralgon, AustraliaWTTHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alex Bolt 6–4, 6–2

Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

Legend
ITF WTT (4–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–1)
Clay (1–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Win1–0Aug 2021M15 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jeremy Beale Flag of Denmark.svg August Holmgren
Flag of Denmark.svg Johannes Ingildsen
6–4, 6–2
Win2–0Sep 2021M15 Monastir, TunisiaWTTHard Flag of New Zealand.svg Ajeet Rai Flag of France.svg Martin Breysach
Flag of France.svg Lilian Marmousez
6–0, 6–4
Win3–0Feb 2022M25 Canberra, AustraliaWTTHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dane Sweeny Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jayden Court
Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Hough
6–3, 7–5
Loss3–1Mar 2022M25 Bendigo, AustraliaWTTHard Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dane Sweeny Flag of Australia (converted).svg Akira Santillan
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Philip Sekulic
5–7, 7–6, [7–10]
Win4–1Mar 2022M25 Canberra, AustraliaWTTClay Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dane Sweeny Flag of Australia (converted).svg Matthew Romios
Flag of Ukraine.svg Eric Vanshelboim
7–6, 3–6, [10–7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Kubler</span> Australian tennis player (born 1993)

Jason Murray Kubler is an Australian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 63 achieved on 24 April 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 27 achieved on 22 May 2023. Kubler's career highlight came at the 2023 Australian Open, where he won his first Grand Slam doubles title as a wildcard alongside compatriot Rinky Hijikata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Duckworth (tennis)</span> Australian professional tennis player

James Duckworth is an Australian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 46 achieved on 31 January 2022 and No. 185 in doubles achieved on 10 February 2020. Duckworth represented Australia in tennis at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 ATP Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucas Pouille</span> French tennis player (born 1994)

Lucas Pouille is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 10, achieved on 19 March 2018 and a career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 79, achieved on 11 April 2016. He has won five singles titles on the ATP Tour and was on the winning French Davis Cup team in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Harris (tennis)</span> Australian tennis player

Andrew Harris is an Australian professional tennis player who is a doubles specialist. He has career high rankings of No. 84 in doubles achieved on 30 October 2023 and No. 159 in singles achieved on 11 November 2019. He was the winner of the junior doubles titles at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships and at Roland Garros.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Bolt</span> Australian professional tennis player

Alex Bolt is an Australian professional tennis player. He plays mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour. His career-high rankings by the ATP are world No. 125 in singles and world No. 81 in doubles. Highlights of his career include quarterfinal appearances at the 2014 Australian Open men's doubles and at the 2017 Australian Open with Andrew Whittington and Bradley Mousley respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marc Polmans</span> Australian tennis player (born 1997)

Marc David Polmans is a South African-born Australian professional tennis player. Polmans has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 116 achieved on 12 October 2020. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 68 achieved on 16 October 2017. He won the 2015 Australian Open boys' doubles title with fellow Australian Jake Delaney, defeating Hubert Hurkacz and Alex Molčan in the final. He reached the semifinal of the 2017 Australian Open doubles with Andrew Whittington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pedro Cachín</span> Argentine tennis player

Pedro Cachín is an Argentine professional tennis player. Cachin has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 48 achieved on 7 August 2023 and a career-high doubles ranking of No. 219 achieved on 9 May 2022. As a junior, he reached a career-high ranking of No. 8 on 9 December 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grégoire Barrère</span> French tennis player (born 1994)

Grégoire Barrère is a French professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 49, which was achieved on 3 July 2023. He also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 161 achieved on 26 April 2021. Barrère has won five ATP Challenger Tour and six ITF Futures singles titles as well as five Challenger and six ITF doubles titles in his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Purcell</span> Australian tennis player (born 1998)

Max Purcell is an Australian professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 40 on 16 October 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 8 on 9 September 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wu Yibing</span> Chinese tennis player

Wu Yibing is a Chinese professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 54 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 10 April 2023, making him the second highest-ranked male Chinese player in history, behind Zhang Zhizhen He also a career-high doubles ranking of No. 295, achieved on 23 April 2018. Wu is the first Chinese man in the Open Era to reach, and to win, an ATP Tour-level singles final, doing so at the 2023 Dallas Open.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher O'Connell</span> Australian tennis player

Christopher O'Connell is an Australian professional tennis player. O'Connell reached a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 53 on 11 September 2023 and a doubles ranking of No. 460 on 25 April 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corentin Moutet</span> French tennis player (born 1999)

Corentin Moutet is a French professional tennis player. Moutet has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 51, attained on 7 November 2022. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 425, attained on 12 June 2017. Moutet has won 6 ATP Challenger Tour and 5 ITF World Tennis Tour singles tournaments.Moutet made his ATP Tour main draw debut at the 2017 French Open after receiving a wildcard to the doubles main draw with Constant Lestienne. They defeated Dustin Brown and Lu Yen-hsun in the first round, but were defeated by Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecău in the second round.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexei Popyrin</span> Australian tennis player (born 1999)

Alexei Popyrin is an Australian professional tennis player.l He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 23 achieved on 12 August 2024. He also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 235 achieved on 27 June 2022. He is currently the No. 2 Australian singles player. He has won three singles titles on the ATP Tour, including a Masters 1000 in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksandar Vukic</span> Australian tennis player

Aleksandar Vukic is an Australian professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 48 achieved on 14 August 2023. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 389 achieved on 21 March 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliot Spizzirri</span> American tennis player (born 2001)

Eliot Spizzirri is an American tennis player. Spizzirri has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 300 on 16 September 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 512 on 22 July 2024. Spizzirri won the 2019 US Open Juniors doubles title with fellow American Tyler Zink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tristan Schoolkate</span> Australian tennis player (born 2001)

Tristan Schoolkate is an Australian professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 167 achieved on 9 September 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 139 achieved on 6 May 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dane Sweeny</span> Australian tennis player

Dane Sweeny is an Australian professional tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 194 achieved on 12th Feb 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 160 achieved on 14 November 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuno Borges (tennis)</span> Portuguese tennis player

Nuno Borges is a Portuguese professional tennis player. Borges has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 30 achieved on 9 September 2024 and a doubles ranking of No. 69 achieved on 19 September 2022. He is currently the No. 1 ranked Portuguese player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shang Juncheng</span> Chinese tennis player (born 2005)

Shang Juncheng is a Chinese professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 66 on 9 September 2024. He is the current No. 2 Chinese player and the second youngest in the Top 100. In July 2021, he reached No. 1 in the ITF junior rankings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rinky Hijikata</span> Australian tennis player (born 2001)

Rinky Hijikata is an Australian professional tennis player. He achieved a career high ATP rankings in singles of world No. 62 on 26 August 2024 and in doubles of No. 23 on 30 October 2023.

References

  1. "Li Tu | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  2. ""If I play my best I can beat half the draw" Unranked wildcard Li Tu ready to turn heads". 6 February 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Rogers, Leigh (30 August 2021). "Ranking Movers". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  4. "Albert Ramos sigue adelante en el Murray River Open". as.com. February 2021.
  5. "De Minaur delivers". Tennis Australia. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  6. Rogers, Leigh (20 September 2021). "Ranking Movers". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  7. "Aussie Men Exit Australian Open Qualifying". Tennis Australia. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  8. "From 'unbelievable' Australian Open chance to triumph in Egypt: Li Tu reaping rewards of six-year break from tennis". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  9. "Ranking movers: Li Tu climbs to new career-high".
  10. "Australian tennis player Li Tu wins emotional first ATP Challenger title". www.sportingnews.com. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  11. "Li Tu records milestone victory in all-Australian battle at Newport". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  12. "A record-breaking six Australians qualify at US Open 2024". 22 August 2024.
  13. Huntsdale, Duncan (21 October 2022). "Rising Australian tennis player Li Tu's emotional Challenger Tour breakthrough comes weeks after mother's death". ABC News . Retrieved 1 August 2024.