Zhu Lin was to Zhu Jiangming and Chen Yunqi in Wuxi, China. Her father introduced her to tennis at age four.
Zhu Lin has a very aggressive style of play, and her signature shot and also favourite shot is the forehand. Her tennis idol growing up was Martina Hingis.
In January 2010, Zhu debuted at a junior Grand Slam tournament, playing at the Australian Open, where she was stopped in the third round by Kristyna Pliskova.
In September 2021, she played her WTA Tour final, at the Jiangxi International Open, and she and Wang Xinyu defeated Peng Shuai and Zhang Shuai in an all-Chinese final.
In December, she won her first title on the WTA Challenger Tour in Seoul, defeating Kristina Mladenovic in the final.