Li Tu (born 27 May 1996) is an Australian tennis player who mainly competes on the ATP Challenger Tour. Tu has career-high rankings by the ATP of 178 in singles, reached on 4 November 2024, and 197 in doubles, achieved on 9 January 2023.[1]

Li Tu
Country (sports) Australia
ResidenceAdelaide, Australia
Born (1996-05-27) 27 May 1996 (age 28)
Adelaide, Australia
Height1.83m (6ft)
Turned pro2021
PlaysRight-handed (one-handed backhand)
CoachDavid Macpherson
Prize money$570,795
Singles
Career record2–11 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 172 (22 November 2024)
Current rankingNo. 179 (6 January 2025)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open1R (2021, 2025)
French OpenQ2 (2024)
WimbledonQ2 (2024)
US Open1R (2024)
Doubles
Career record2–2
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 197 (9 January 2023)
Current rankingNo. 286 (2 December 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2022)
Last updated on: 2 December 2024.

Career

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2011–2014: Pro debut and retirement

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Tu made his ITF Futures debut in February 2011 at the Australia F2. He played four other tournaments, losing in the first round in all of them.[citation needed]

Tu competed in the 2012 Junior Davis Cup alongside Thanasi Kokkinakis, later working as a tennis coach prior to his debut on the senior tour.[2]

In February 2014, he won his first match on ITF-level. In April 2014, Tu reached the quarterfinal of the Australia F5, his best result this level, but retired in June 2014.[3]

2020–2021: Return, ATP and major debut, four ITF titles

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In 2020, Tu was inspired to return to playing tennis and enjoyed success on the Australian UTR Pro Tennis Series.[3]

Tu made his ATP Tour debut at the 2021 Murray River Open from where he received a wildcard into the singles main draw.[4] Tu also made his Grand Slam debut at the 2021 Australian Open, after receiving a wildcard. He lost in the first round to Feliciano López.[5]

In August 2021, Tu won his first ITF title as an unranked qualifier at a M15 tournament in Tunisia. He was competing in his first international event since June 2014.[3] In September 2021, Tu won the singles and doubles titles at a tournament in Monastir, Tunisia.[6]

Tu ended the 2021 season with an ATP ranking of No. 521.[citation needed]

2022: Maiden Challenger title, top 200 debut

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Tu lost in the first round of the 2022 Australian Open – Men's singles qualifying.[7] He made his Grand Slam tournament debut in doubles and reached the third round, after receiving a wildcard with Dane Sweeny.[citation needed]

In May, he scooped an ITF title in Cairo and finished runner-up at another ITF event at Monastir,[8] winning 11 of his past 12 matches. He raised 55 places to a new career-high of world No. 342 on 9 May 2022.[9]

In July, Tu made his debut on the ATP Challenger Tour in Rome, Georgia, where he lost to Yasutaka Uchiyama. The following week in Indianapolis, as an alternate, he won his first Challenger match against Michail Pervolarakis, but lost to Dominik Koepfer in the second round. He then made his first Challenger quarterfinal in Winnipeg, defeating seventh seed Gijs Brouwer in the second round, before losing to Enzo Couacaud. [citation needed] As a result he reached world No. 252 on 1 August 2022.[citation needed]

In October, Tu made his first Challenger semifinal in Seoul, after qualifying by beating Cho Se-hyuk and Mukund Sasikumar. In the main draw, he beat Kaichi Uchida, fellow qualifier Naoki Nakagawa and the fifth seed, compatriot Christopher O'Connell. He defeated the sixth seed, compatriot James Duckworth, in the semifinals to reach his first Challenger final where he defeated Wu Yibing in straight sets.[10] As a result, he moved more than 100 positions up in the rankings, at world No. 190 on 17 October 2022.[citation needed]

2023: First ATP Tour win

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In Newport, after qualifying for the main draw, Tu won his first match at ATP Tour level by beating Aleksandar Vukic in straight sets. This was also his first match win against a top 100 player.[11]

He entered the Mallorca Championships, also as qualifier, but lost his first-round match against lucky loser Pavel Kotov.[12]

He also entered the main draw at the Chengdu Open as a lucky loser and lost in the first round to Arthur Rinderknech.[13]

2024: US Open debut

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He qualified for his home tournament, the Brisbane International.[citation needed]

He again qualified for the Hall of Fame Open, losing to Eliot Spizzirri in the first round.[14] He also qualified for the main draw of the US Open making his debut at this major.[15] In the first round, he lost to third seed Carlos Alcaraz in four sets.[16]

2025: Adelaide International second round

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As a wildcard entrant, Tu defeated James Duckworth to reach the second round at the Adelaide International,[17] where he lost to Benjamin Bonzi.[18] Again given entry to the main draw as a wildcard at the Australian Open, he lost to 24th seed Jiří Lehečka in the first round.[19]

Performance timelines

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
Tournament 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 SR W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open 1R Q1 Q2 Q1 0 / 1 0–1
French Open A A Q1 Q2 0 / 0 0–0
Wimbledon A A A Q2 0 / 0 0–0
US Open A A A 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Win–loss 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0 / 2 0–2
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Shanghai Masters NH Q2 1R 0 / 1 0–1
Win–loss 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0 / 1 0–1

Personal life

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Tu was born in Adelaide to Chinese immigrant parents. His mother, Yu Ping Zheng, died in 2022.[20]

ATP Challenger Tour finals

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Singles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-up)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–2)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Oct 2022 Seoul, South Korea Challenger Hard   Wu Yibing 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Loss 1–1 Jul 2024 Lexington, USA Challenger Hard   João Fonseca 1–6, 4–6
Loss 1–2 Nov 2024 Yokohama, Japan Challenger Hard   Yuta Shimizu 7–6(7–4), 4–6, 2–6

Doubles: 1 (title)

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Legend
ATP Challenger Tour (1–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Jul 2024 Chicago, USA Challenger Hard   Luke Saville   Mac Kiger
  Benjamin Sigouin
6–4, 3–6, [10–3]

ITF World Tennis Tour finals

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Singles: 13 (9 titles, 4 runner-ups)

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Legend
ITF WTT (9–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (8–4)
Clay (1–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Aug 2021 M15 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Mateo Nicolás Martínez 6–1, 6–1
Win 2–0 Sep 2021 M15 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Gabriel Décamps 6–2, 6–1
Win 3–0 Sep 2021 M15 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Ryota Tanuma 3–6, 6–1, 6–2
Win 4–0 Nov 2021 M25 Saint-Dizier, France WTT Hard (i)   Dane Sweeny 1–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win 5–0 Feb 2022 M25 Bendigo, Australia WTT Hard   Andrew Harris 6–3, 6–1
Win 6–0 May 2022 M25 Cairo, Egypt WTT Clay   Colin Sinclair 6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Loss 6–1 May 2022 M15 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Skander Mansouri 4–6, 2–6
Win 7–1 May 2022 M25 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Skander Mansouri 6–7(3–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Loss 7–2 Jul 2022 M15 Waco, Texas, USA WTT Hard   Adam Walton 5–7, 6–0, 1–6
Win 8–2 Apr 2023 M15 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Daniel Rodrigues 3–6, 6–4, 6–4
Loss 8–3 Apr 2023 M15 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Duarte Vale 3–6, 0–3, ret.
Loss 8–4 Feb 2024 M25 Traralgon, Australia WTT Hard   Omar Jasika 6–7(1–7), 2–6
Win 9–4 Mar 2024 M25 Traralgon, Australia WTT Hard   Alex Bolt 6–4, 6–2

Doubles: 5 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)

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Legend
ITF WTT (4–1)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–1)
Clay (1–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Win 1–0 Aug 2021 M15 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Jeremy Beale   August Holmgren
  Johannes Ingildsen
6–4, 6–2
Win 2–0 Sep 2021 M15 Monastir, Tunisia WTT Hard   Ajeet Rai   Martin Breysach
  Lilian Marmousez
6–0, 6–4
Win 3–0 Feb 2022 M25 Canberra, Australia WTT Hard   Dane Sweeny   Jayden Court
  David Hough
6–3, 7–5
Loss 3–1 Mar 2022 M25 Bendigo, Australia WTT Hard   Dane Sweeny   Akira Santillan
  Philip Sekulic
5–7, 7–6, [7–10]
Win 4–1 Mar 2022 M25 Canberra, Australia WTT Clay   Dane Sweeny   Matthew Romios
  Eric Vanshelboim
7–6, 3–6, [10–7]

References

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  1. ^ "Li Tu | Overview | ATP Tour | Tennis". ATP Tour.
  2. ^ ""If I play my best I can beat half the draw" Unranked wildcard Li Tu ready to turn heads". The Age. 6 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Rogers, Leigh (30 August 2021). "Ranking Movers". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Albert Ramos sigue adelante en el Murray River Open". as.com. February 2021.
  5. ^ "De Minaur delivers". Tennis Australia. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  6. ^ Rogers, Leigh (20 September 2021). "Ranking Movers". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  7. ^ "Aussie Men Exit Australian Open Qualifying". Tennis Australia. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  8. ^ "From 'unbelievable' Australian Open chance to triumph in Egypt: Li Tu reaping rewards of six-year break from tennis". www.sportingnews.com. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Ranking movers: Li Tu climbs to new career-high". tennis.com.
  10. ^ "Australian tennis player Li Tu wins emotional first ATP Challenger title". www.sportingnews.com. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  11. ^ "Li Tu records milestone victory in all-Australian battle at Newport". Tennis Australia. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  12. ^ "Mallorca Open: Kotov knocks out qualifier Li Tu to make second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  13. ^ "Chengdu Open: Rinderknech books spot in second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  14. ^ "Hall of Fame Open: Spizzirri sees off Tu for second round berth". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  15. ^ "A record-breaking six Australians qualify at US Open 2024". 22 August 2024.
  16. ^ "How Aussie tennis pro Li Tu lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the U.S. Open but won over fans online". NBC News. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  17. ^ "Adelaide Open: Tu moves into second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  18. ^ "ATP Adelaide: Qualifier Bonzi reaches quarter-finals". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  19. ^ "Australian Open: Lehecka comes through Tu test to make second round". Tennis Majors. Retrieved 13 January 2025.
  20. ^ Huntsdale, Duncan (21 October 2022). "Rising Australian tennis player Li Tu's emotional Challenger Tour breakthrough comes weeks after mother's death". ABC News. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
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