Chinese wheelchair tennis team off to successful start at Tokyo Paralympics

TOKYO, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese wheelchair tennis team on Friday started the first day of tournament with three winning matches, as men's singles player Ji Zhenxu and two women's doubles groups beat their opponents in the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

In the first round of men's singles, Ji won 6-1, 6-0 in 42 minutes against Austrian veteran Martin Legner.

"My opponent is a 59-year-old veteran. I respect him very much and learned from him," 21-year-old Ji said after the match. "I was happy to finish the competition today, very happy with my debut in Tokyo and I'm looking forward to the rest of the tournament."

Due to high temperatures, the matches on nine outside courts were postponed from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time on Friday, except for the center court on which the roof was closed.

In the first round of women's doubles matches that ended in the evening, the Chinese pair of Huang Huimin and Huang Jinlian beat their Brazilian competitors 6-0, 6-0, while Zhu Zhenzhen and Wang Ziying downed their U.S. counterparts 6-1, 6-0.

The wheelchair tennis competition will continue on Saturday at the Ariake Tennis Park, where the four Chinese women players will compete in their first round singles matches.