Yunchaokete Bu challenges Jannik Sinner in the semifinals. © ANSA / JESSICA LEE

Sinner's opponent: The man with the mysterious name

Jannik Sinner is aiming for the final at the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing. Only one man stands between the Sextner and the final. He is a Chinese who has a special name on the one hand and can look back on a special story on the other.

01 October 2024

From: det

Researching a name in the age of the Internet is actually the easiest thing in the world. Especially when that person is in the semi-finals of an ATP tournament. But with Jannik Sinner's next opponent, it can be a bit tricky. The Sextner will face the Chinese Yunchaokete Bu in the semi-finals in Beijing on Tuesday from 13 p.m. (CEST). Or Buyunchaokete? Or Bert?

The fact is that it is not easy to keep track of the confusing names surrounding the Chinese world number 96. Wikipedia dedicates a whole chapter to his name and tries to shed some light on the matter.

He calls himself Bu Bert

The 22-year-old's real name is Buyunchaokete. This is a Mongolian first name; the Chinese player does not have a surname or family name. According to the ATP, the young tennis star is usually called Bu, sometimes by his American name Bert. The ATP lists the Chinese player as Bu Yunchaokete or Yunchaokete Bu. The player himself calls himself Bu Bert on Instagram.

In the quarterfinals, Yunchaokete Bu eliminated none other than Andrey Rublev. © ANSA / JESSICA LEE

The thing with the name is something very special for Yunchaokete Bu (we are simply referring to the spelling that the ATP also uses). His story is also special. The Chinese is the son of a Mongolian family. After the early death of his father, Yunchaokete Bu grew up with his grandparents, who sent him to an SOS Children's Village because of the better opportunities. There, a tennis coach became aware of the now 22-year-old's extraordinary abilities.

Prefer school to professional tennis

Yunchaokete Bu's rise was somewhat slow, partly because he concentrated on school between the ages of 18 and 20 and did not play a professional tennis match. But the Chinese has now opened the door to world class play. Yunchaokete Bu is currently number 96 in the world and celebrated the greatest success of his career to date on Monday. With Andrey Rublev (ATP 6), the Chinese beat a top 10 player for the first time in the quarterfinals in Beijing. The local hero had already eliminated Lorenzo Musetti in the Chinese metropolis.

Now Yunchaokete Bu will face Jannik Sinner in the semifinals and is a clear underdog there. The Sextner definitely wants to reach the final, where he would face the winner of the match between Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday.