Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz (AP/PTI) Chinese tennis fans created unique nicknames for international tennis stars based on homophonic syllables, as revealed during the ongoing tennis tournaments in Shanghai in October 2025. These nicknames often derived from puns and transcripts to Chinese are ranging from animals to food Creative ways to involve Chinese fans in their favorite athletes.World number one of Carlos Alcaraz was marked with “duck” Chinese fans who see the similarity between his facial features, especially his mouth, and by the mouths and institutes of asking ducks.Novak Djokovic, 24-time Grand Slam champion, bears the nickname “Chicken” or “de Ji” in Chinese. The name was created when it was at its peak, as a “hot chicken” in Chinese describes a new feeling, while “de Ji” imitates the sound of “DJ” in its surname.The best rated Aryna Sabalenka won several nicknames in China. She is known as “Chinese daughter” because of her strong performance and popularity in the country. Fans also call her “Tiger Girl”, referring to their year of birth 1998 (the year of Tiger) and its tiger tattoo. In addition, the “fried rice queen” was dubbed because of her renowned love for food.World number two IgA Swiatlek is known as “Silk Socks” because “Si WA” in Mandarin resembles “Swia” in its surname.
Amanda Anisimova, China Open champion, was nicknamed the “Medicine sister” because her surname sounds like the Chinese word for amoxicillin antibiotics. Madison Keys is simply known as “Key nurse”.Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro were given nicknames related to wealth. Pegula is called “Dafu”, which means “great rich”, while Navarro is known as “second rich”, both links to their billionaire family background.Daniil Medvedev received the nickname “Prime Minister” for sharing with the former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Alexander Zverev, world number three, is named after the princess called “Ziwei” from the popular TV drama, because it sounds like his surname in Chinese.Roger Federer, although retired, maintains his popularity in China with the nickname “cow”. This name came from the acceptance of two cows as gifts at the Swiss tournament – Juliette in 2003 and Desiree in 2013. Chinese fans also combine their fine and soft personality with a cow.The nickname tradition shows how Chinese fans creatively adapted the names of foreign players into their language and create a meaningful and often funny connection with athletes.
