The China Open's meteoric rise in international stature has led to soaring national interest in the sport, Sun Xiaochen reports.

Nobody took China Open tournament director Alfred Zhang seriously when he declared a vision during the event's 2004 debut to make it the "fifth Grand Slam".

But he meant what he said. And others are starting to find it increasingly likely, as the China Open has surged from obscurity to become Asia's largest tennis competition and has given oomph to the sport's development in China.