This pic of Jasmine Paolini is going viral

The idea of going viral in China is absolutely frightening to me, for no reason other than I simply would not know it was happening. It's like being at a party by yourself and everyone is in the other room talking about you. There's safety to being in on the joke. I want to be in the on the joke! Please let me in on the joke!

This year, Chinese tennis fans are finally letting us all in on the joke and it's been absolutely glorious. I've been coming to China for the China Swing for over 10 years, so I've known about the incredible nickname culture among the local fans.

This year, I finally signed up for Red Note, and the first posts I saw were the photo of Jasmine Paolini up top, with a bunch of cryptic references. I asked around and finally got the full explanation of her Chinese nickname: Bao Zong.

Here's my best attempt at summarizing: The "Bao" reference stems from her last name, with "Pao" sounding like "Bao". That's simple enough for me. As an Asian American, I know "bao" to mean a small steamed bun – I lived off cha siu bao in college, they're my favorite thing. So I thought it was just a reference to Jaz being small and delightful.

Well, yes, I was told. But that's just the first layer of the nickname. After all, her nickname isn't just "Bao". "Bao Zong" translates to "Big Boss" and the China Open struck viral gold when the behind-the-scenes cameras captured a stone-faced Paolini walking through on-site security, with the security guards wearing jackets that read "Beijing Bao Zong".

The rest, is viral history.

"It's amazing," Paolini said. "They're super fast and organized. I saw many, many pictures after the doubles of myself and the security with the 'Beijing Bao Zong'.

"Fans are screaming to me 'Bao Zong, Bao Zong!' It's a little bit strange, but I love it. I'm trying to speak a bit of Chinese, trying to learn some words. But the only thing I can say right now is 'Jiayou, Bao Zong!'

One further twist to it all that I really loved: Bao also refers to the lead character in a Chinese TV show called Blossoms Shanghai, which aired in 2023. The main character's name is Ah Bao, and the it's a rags to riches story about an ordinary guy who rises through the ranks to become a powerful business man during China's economic reform period in the 1990s. Interestingly, the show was directed and produced by the legendary Hong Kong director Wong Kar-Wai, the man behind two of my all-time favorite films, In the Mood for Love and Chungking Express. It's apparently streaming on Criterion in North America. Needless to say, this is now No.1 on my off-season viewing list.

What has set this edition of the China swing apart from previous versions has been how quickly the players have embraced the fan culture. Chinese tennis fans are full of passion and they know allllll the lore. Their nicknames and memes, which can be sharp and cutting for some, all come from a place of love. In other words, it's no different from any other fandom, sports or otherwise.

They call Jessica Pegula "Da Fu" or "Big Wealth", which is self explanatory. I was admittedly a little bit worried about what Jess' reaction to it would be but she's embraced it – she's even signed the camera with it – saying she interprets it for herself as meaning "blessed", which....if you know the Ronnie Chieng bit, she's not wrong:

They also have a particular penchant for turning negatives into positives. One example is their genuine love for Barbora Krejcikova. The way it was described to me: they feel that Krejcikova is often overlooked and underappreciated. Her nickname is directly translated to "Star Light", with the English equivalent being "Spotlight". I've come to find that I may have had something to do with that because of this interview. Later that year, she played in Zhuhai and really embraced the fans and seemed to revel in the attention. Hence: Spotlight.

Not everyone has fancy names with lots of lore. Emma Raducanu's are all variations on the fact that her mother hails from Shenyang – Shenyang's Sister, Queen of Shenyang, etc. Interesting side note: her mandarin by all accounts is phenomenal and she speaks it with a Northeast accent that makes Mandarin sound quite aggressive, e.g., more staccato. So the contrast of Emma's wide smile and softer personality with the aggressive accent is very endearing to Chinese fans.

Oh, and before you ask, Chinese fans just call Iga, "IGA" or "GA", which is a cute diminutive. But I was also told to note that the Chinese world for the number one is "Yi", as in YIGA. So they said it works on that level as well.

Coco Gauff's popularity continues to grow as she's been so earnest and open about her love of Beijing.

"I guess I have two [nicknames]," Coco said. "Obviously the 'Fruit Salad Queen', they love that one. Then they told me I was 'Ambassador of Beijing' because of all the things I said about Beijing. It's really cool.

"I like Jess' nickname. I thought hers is pretty cool. I guess I have a challenge for the Chinese fans: I would like to what animal resonates with me. I mean, 'Fruit Salad' is cool, but I think being named after an animal is cooler. I would like to see what animal they think I am."

The Chinese fans responded with "Wolf". Coco's not entirely convinced about that one yet. She likes killer whales. So I guess negotiations are still underway.

So that's my quick dash through the nicknames that have been keeping me entertained so far. If you want to know a player's nickname just drop a comment and I'll ask around and get you an answer over the next two weeks.