"Little Giant" Yang Xiaoyin: Huzhou tennis is ushering in great changes

As April comes to the last week, the 2025 China Tennis Tour CTA1000 Huzhou Open Tennis Tournament is being played at the newly built Huzhou International Clay Tennis Center. Among the star-studded line-up is a young player from Huzhou, and this time the participation in the China Tennis Tour has given him a valuable opportunity to compete in his hometown.

The 20-year-old Yang Xiaoyin has a superior height of 195 cm, which can be described as a "little giant". He was born in Changxing County, Huzhou, and in the year of kindergarten, the coach of the Changxing County tennis team selected him for his physical talent in a selection process. Subsequently, 9-year-old Yang Xiaoyin was transported to the Huzhou Tennis Center, where there are now well-known Buyun Chaoket, Xiao Zhenghua, Wang Xiaofei and others. "When I went to the Huzhou Tennis Center to train, they had been practicing there for a while, and they were my senior brother and sister." Yang Xiaoyin said. When he was 15 or 16 years old, Yang Xiaoyin was selected by the coach to join the Yunnan Provincial Tennis Team.

As an athlete, Yang Xiaoyin's life is almost filled with tennis, he either competes all over the country or trains at the base of the Yunnan provincial team, and since becoming a member of the Yunnan team, Yang Xiaoyin can only return home once a year during the Chinese New Year. "We athletes play a lot, tennis events are widely distributed, and to be honest, we don't have a lot of holidays. After going to Yunnan, I could only go home once a year, except for the opportunity to compete in Zhejiang. ”

Yang Xiaoyin was overjoyed to be able to return to Huzhou to compete this time, and he was quite fond of the large clay pavilion built in his hometown: "Maybe because this is a new venue, the soil layer is thicker and the friction is higher. If the soil is thinner and the friction is low, then the field will be more slippery. In addition, this is an indoor court, so the ball speed will be a little faster. I'm not very good at clay, but I like the venue. Because I'm taller, my center of gravity will be higher, and my coordination is not very good, so it feels good to play red clay here. ”

Talking about his hometown, Yang Xiao said: "I think Huzhou is a very comfortable city, although it is not very prosperous, and there is no particularly famous business district, but the most famous place here is a slow-paced place such as Nanxun Ancient Town, which gives people a sense of seclusion." I like to go to the side of Taihu Lake to see the sunrise or something, which is very relaxing. In fact, I haven't been back to Huzhou for many years, so I don't know how tennis has developed over the years. When I came back this time I saw a lot of new venues and clubs coming up, which has changed a lot from when I was a kid and it feels good. ”

In terms of geographical location, climatic conditions and urban atmosphere, Zhejiang and Yunnan are far apart. Yang Xiaoyin, who left home at a young age, will naturally be a little uncomfortable: "When I went to Yunnan when I was a child, I was still very homesick, and the food in Yunnan is quite different from here. For example, Yunnan's special folded ear root and the like, I had never heard of this food before I went, although I have been in Yunnan for a long time over the years, my taste is still Zhejiang. ”

In this tournament, Yang Xiaoyin fought in both singles and doubles, and he stopped in the first round of the men's singles field, but he played well in the men's doubles field, and his partner Chen Zihui won the semifinals. With the opening of the Huzhou International Clay Tennis Center and the rapid development of Huzhou's tennis career, it is believed that Yang Xiaoyin will have more opportunities to return to his hometown to compete in the future.