THE Shanghai Rolex Masters has announced four wildcards, three of them for China's leading male players, Zhang Ze, Wu Di and Li Zhe, who will have the chance to play in the main draw. The fourth wildcard went to former world No. 1, Australian Lleyton Hewitt, for the tournament through October 14. China's No. 1 tennis player Zhang and No. 2 Wu talk about the long hard road they've traveled, and the harder one ahead.

Zhang Ze

The 22-year-old is the No. 1 Chinese male player, ranked at 166 in the world, his career high. Nicknamed "Big George," he plays No. 1 in Davis Cup for the country. This is his third year in the main draw for the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The last was in 2011.

This year he reached six quarterfinals at the Challenger level. The Nanjing native reached that round most recently at Ningbo and also earlier at the road to the Shanghai Rolex Masters Challenger, played at Qizhong. At Tour level, he qualified at Halle and made the last 16. He also won two and reached the final of three Futures events.

Zhang started to play tennis when he was six years old. "The first moment I saw him, the boy was shouting slogans in the first row," recalls Bao Qin, Zhang's first tennis teacher who selected him in 1996. "He looked so unpromising and obstinate. I liked the boy."

On the team, Zhang was not the best but the hardest worker. Since he started to play tennis late, he put more effort into training than other students. During six years on Bao's team, Zhang was always the last to leave the training field every night.

His efforts paid off. In 2002 Zhang ranked first in a group of 12-year-old boys in Jiangsu Province; he also won two medals in a province-wide sports meets. That year Zhang joined the Jiangsu Province Tennis Team and began his career as a professional.

"Everybody liked him because the boy was simple and honest," says Li Hui, general coach of the provincial team. "And he knew 'no pain no gain'."

Zhang worked even harder in Jiangsu. They said he wore out a pair of shoes every two weeks. In fact he was also an excellent student with good marks. If he hadn't embarked on tennis, he could have had a relatively easy life.

"My family supported my decision to play tennis just because I said I liked it," Zhang says. "If I am lucky, then I'm lucky to have people standing firmly beside me all these years. Of course, luck also comes with hard work."

Starting 2007, Zhang's body and skills matured and he began to win prizes in China and Asia.

In 2010, he became Chinese champion in both singles and doubles. He was captain of China's Davis Cup Team.

The year 2012 has been a successful one for Zhang since he became the first Chinese male player to enter Grand Slam tournaments.

This August, Zhang hit a career-high, ranking of 166, under the guidance of Frenchman Guillaume Peyre, former coach of Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis and Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

That's the highest ranking for any Chinese male tennis player, ever. Next was Pan Bing, ranked 176 in 1995.

"People don't know how much effort it takes to move from ranking 200 to 100," Zhang says. "From 166 to 100, it may look quite close, but I feel it's still a long way to go. I'm going to do everything I can to get closer and closer."

Wu Di

Wu Di, who recently turned 21, is China's No. 2 tennis player. He ranks 185 in the world, his career high. This will be the Wuhan native's second time in the main draw for the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The first was in 2010.

Wu was a finalist at the Beijing Challenger, a semi-finalist at Challengers in Ningbo and Karshi, and made the last 16 at the road to the Shanghai Rolex Masters Challenger. This year he has played at the Futures events, winning three and reaching two other finals.

For Wu, playing tennis is happiness. "Smile, you look handsome when you smile." That's what people always tell Wu.

"I could escape doing homework if I was playing tennis when I was a small child," he says.

Before he was seven years old, the open sandy playground in front of Zhongshan Park was where he worked up a good sweat by playing tennis.

He says he didn't show much tennis talent, so he hasn't figured out why coach Xia Jiaping picked him for the Shanghai Pudong Tennis Team in 2003.

"Maybe I was really lucky," he says. As a matter of fact, Wu had been rejected by the Guangzhou Team several months before.

On the Shanghai Team, Wu didn't do well. Players at his age were promoted to the first team, while he remained in the second team and sometimes played as a practice partner for female players. Even with girls, Wu didn't have an advantage.

However, his improvement and growth spurt were astonishing. In 2007 the 16-year-old won his first championship. Then he was selected by the national youth team and got a new coach Lu Ling, who Wu says, changed his life.

Wu began strict and systematic training on the youth team and Lu helped him rebuild and reshape his technique.

Since the age of 16, Wu traveled solo to various international matches, with little more English than "Yes," "No," "Thank-you" and "Bye."

Wu says he envies Zhang because he has parents, coaches and a team to support him. But Wu is always alone. Once, he almost got lost in Los Angeles.

In 2007, Wu got his first ATP score, ranking 1,461. "I was excited for a long time and every day I checked the ranking on the website though I knew the ranking is updated every week," he recalls.

The ranking fired up his desire to win. From 1,461 to 300, down to 500 and back to up the current 185, Wu is struggling on the ATP journey with twists and turns.

One thing he is sure of: he won't quit. "To be frank, I didn't like tennis before. But one day I was sitting on a bus, I suddenly realized there was nothing else I care about, except tennis.

"When I concentrate all my thoughts and energy on the tennis ball in a game, I find that all my troubles disappear magically. I can't live without tennis."

Hardcourt Heroes
Roger Federer has the best winning percentage for hardcourt match wins in 2012, according to the ATP Reliability Index, but Novak Djokovic has the most victories. US Open champion Andy Murray went 9-1 on the summer North American swing.

Traffic
The Shanghai Rolex Masters tennis tournament is being held through October 14 at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Minhang District. Direct shuttle buses will operate during the tournament. For 2 yuan (32 US cents) per ride, the non-stop buses will run to the arena from Xinzhuang Station of Metro Line 1 and Zhuanqiao Station of Metro Line 5 from 11am to 7pm. Services from the arena to the two stops will run between 4pm and 10pm.
In evenings between October 7 and October 13, fans can also take a dedicated line that directly runs to the Shanghai Indoor Stadium within 30 minutes after the end of the last match. From there passengers can catch Metro Line 1 and Line 4.
Parking lots near the arena will be open for those who plan to drive to the tournament.

Tips:
? Be on time
Once a match starts, spectators will only be allowed to enter the stadium at the end of every third, fifth, seventh and ninth game, when the players are taking a break.

? Bring soft packaged drinks
To ensure the safety of fans and players, bottled drinks are not allowed.

? Do not distract the players
To avoid distracting the players, portable televisions, radios, CD players and computers are not allowed. Please turn off your cell phone or switch it to silent mode. Please do not bring infants to the stadium.

? Do not walk around in the stand
Walking around may distract players, so spectators should find their seats and sit down as soon as possible. Do not walk around during a game.

? Do not use flash photography
Some cameras turn on flash automatically, which may distract the players. Please make sure you turn off the flash before taking pictures.