Zheng Jie: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 08:58, 15 November 2008 editTennis expert (talk \| contribs)24,261 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit		Revision as of 09:30, 15 November 2008 edit undo2012Olympian (talk \| contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers6,247 editsm Reverted edits by Tennis expert (talk) to last version by 2008OlympianNext edit →
Line 5:		Line 5:
	\| nickname =		\| nickname =
	\| country = {{PRC}}		\| country = {{PRC}}
	\| residence = ], ], ]		\| residence = ], ], People's Republic of China
	\| datebirth = {{birth date and age\|1983\|7\|5}}		\| datebirth = {{birth date and age\|mf=yes\|1983\|7\|5}}
	\| placebirth = ], ], ]		\| placebirth = Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
	\| height = {{height\|m=1.64}}		\| height = {{height\|m=1.64}}
	\| weight = {{convert\|57\|kg\|lb st\|abbr=on\|lk=on}}		\| weight = {{convert\|57\|kg\|lb st\|abbr=on\|lk=on}}
	\| turnedpro = ]]		\| turnedpro = 16 January 2003
	\| plays = right; two-handed backhand		\| plays = right; two-handed backhand
	\| careerprizemoney = ]2,324,564		\| careerprizemoney = US$2,324,564
	\| singlesrecord = 244–138		\| singlesrecord = 244–138
	\| singlestitles = 3 WTA, 4 ITF titles		\| singlestitles = 3 WTA, 4 ITF titles
	\| highestsinglesranking = 23 (]])		\| highestsinglesranking = 23 (20 October 2008)
	\| AustralianOpenresult = 1R (], ], ], ])		\| AustralianOpenresult = 1r (], ], ], ])
	\| FrenchOpenresult = 4R (])		\| FrenchOpenresult = 4r (])
	\| Wimbledonresult = SF (])		\| Wimbledonresult = SF (])
	\| USOpenresult = 3R (])		\| USOpenresult = 3r (])
	\| doublesrecord = 264–107		\| doublesrecord = 264–107
	\| doublestitles = 11 WTA, 16 ITF titles		\| doublestitles = 11 WTA, 16 ITF titles
	\| highestdoublesranking = 3 (]])		\| highestdoublesranking = 3 (10 July 2006)
	\| grandslamsdoublesresults = yes		\| grandslamsdoublesresults = yes
	\| AustralianOpenDoublesresult = '''W''' (])		\| AustralianOpenDoublesresult = '''W''' (])
	\| FrenchOpenDoublesresult = SF (])		\| FrenchOpenDoublesresult = SF (])
	\| WimbledonDoublesresult = '''W''' (])		\| WimbledonDoublesresult = '''W''' (])
	\| USOpenDoublesresult = QF (], ], ])		\| USOpenDoublesresult = QF (], ], ])
	\| updated = ]]		\| updated = 3 November2008
	}}		}}

Line 40:		Line 40:
	{{MedalBottom}}		{{MedalBottom}}

	'''Zheng Jie''' ({{zh-stp\|s=郑洁\|t=鄭潔\|p=Zhèng Jié}}; born ] ]) is a ] professional female ] player. She was born in ], ] province. She made her ] rankings debut in 2000. She turned professional in 2003 and ended the year for the first time in the top 100. As of ] ], she is ranked world No. 25, making her China's and Asia's second-highest-ranked women's singles player behind ] of China, who is ranked World No. 23.<ref></ref>		'''Zheng Jie''' ({{zh-stp\|s=郑洁\|t=鄭潔\|p=Zhèng Jié}}; born 5 July 1983) is a ] professional female ] player. She was born in ], ] province. She made her ] rankings debut in 2000. She turned professional in 2003 and ended the year for the first time in the top 100. As of 3 November 2008, she is ranked world No. 25, making her China's and Asia's second-highest-ranked women's singles player behind ] of China, who is ranked World No. 23.<ref></ref>

	At ] in 2008, Zheng gained recognition by becoming the first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, defeating World No. 1 ] en route.<ref name="wtatour2"></ref> She donated her winnings to the victims of the ], in her native province. She has won three career WTA singles titles: ] in 2005, ] and ] in 2006. She also has won eleven WTA doubles titles, all with ], including ] tournaments ] and ] in 2006. At the ], Zheng Jie and her partner ] won the bronze medal in women's tennis doubles, the second time China has ever won an Olympics tennis medal.		At ] in 2008, Zheng gained recognition by becoming the first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, defeating World No. 1 ] en route <ref name="wtatour2"></ref>. She donated her winnings to the victims of the ], in her native province. She has won three career WTA singles titles: ] in 2005, ] and ] in 2006. She also has won eleven WTA doubles titles, all with ], including ] tournaments ] and ] in 2006. At the ], Zheng Jie and her partner ] won the bronze medal in women's tennis doubles, the second time China has ever won an Olympics tennis medal.

	==Singles career==		==Singles career==
	===2002===		===2002===
	In May 2002, she won two successive $25,000 ] singles tournaments, at ] and ], right after reaching her first $50,000 tournament quarterfinal, at ], ].<ref></ref> That September, she gained direct entry into a WTA tournament at ], and reached Round Two before losing to ].<ref name="wtatour2"></ref> She ended the year as World No. 183.<ref name="wtatour"></ref>		In May 2002, she won two successive $25,000 ] singles tournaments, at ] and ], right after reaching her first $50,000 tournament quarterfinal, at ], Japan.<ref></ref> That September, she gained direct entry into a WTA tournament at Shanghai, and reached Round Two before losing to ].<ref name="wtatour2"></ref> She ended the year as World No. 183.<ref name="wtatour"></ref>

	===2003===		===2003===
Line 64:		Line 64:

	The following year brought further improvements in her singles results. She reached the quarterfinals at Hyderabad and Doha		The following year brought further improvements in her singles results. She reached the quarterfinals at Hyderabad and Doha
	(where she comfortably beat ] in Round Two),<ref name="t2004"></ref> and the second round at Miami and Vienna (where she beat ] 6–3 6–2).<ref name="t2004" /> Then at the ], playing only her second Grand Slam singles main draw (after gaining direct entry to the ] but losing in the first round), she defeated ], ], and ] in succession to reach the fourth round, where she lost to ] 6–4, 7–5.<ref></ref> She was the first Chinese women to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam.<ref name="wtatour2" />		(where she comfortably beat ] in Round Two),<ref name="t2004"></ref> and the second round at Miami and Vienna (where she beat ] 6–3 6–2).<ref name="t2004" /> Then at the ], playing only her second Grand Slam singles main draw (after gaining direct entry to the ] but losing in the first round), she defeated ], ] and ] in succession to reach the fourth round, where she lost to ] in two close sets, 6–4, 7–5.<ref></ref> She was the first Chinese women to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam.<ref name="wtatour2" />

	At the ] in ], she lost 6–8 in the final set of her first round match to ] despite taking the first set 6–4.<ref></ref> In September, she won a $25,000 ITF tournament at ], defeating ] in the semifinal and ] in the final.<ref name="t2004" /> But it was another of her countrywomen, ], who stopped her at the final hurdle in a $50,000 tournament at ] late that November, although she had impressively conquered ] again in the semifinal, the latter having accounted for ] in the quarterfinal stage.<ref name="t2004" /> Zheng ended the year world-ranked 67.<ref name="wtatour" />		At the ] in ], she lost 6–8 in the final set of her first round match to ] despite taking the first set 6–4.<ref></ref> In September, she won a $25,000 ITF tournament at ], defeating ] in the semifinal and Li Na in the final.<ref name="t2004" /> But it was another of her countrywomen, ], who stopped her at the final hurdle in a $50,000 tournament at ] late that November, although she had impressively conquered ] again in the semifinal, the latter having accounted for ] in the quarterfinal stage.<ref name="t2004" /> Zheng ended the year world-ranked 67.<ref name="wtatour" />

	===2005===		===2005===

	] 2005.]]		] 2005.]]
	In 2005, she began the year with a flourish by capturing her first WTA singles title at Hobart,<ref name="wtatour" /> after wins over some highly capable players, namely ], ], ], ] and ].<ref name="t2005"></ref>		In 2005, she began the year with a flourish by capturing her first WTA singles title at Hobart,<ref name="wtatour" /> after wins over some highly capable players, namely ], ], ], Li Na and ].<ref name="t2005"></ref>

	She qualified for Dubai with wins over ], ] and ], and went on to defeat ] in the main draw before succumbing to ].<ref name="t2005" /> Dulko gained her revenge in the quarterfinal at Estoril in April.<ref name="t2005" />		She qualified for Dubai with wins over ], ] and ], and went on to defeat ] in the main draw before succumbing to ].<ref name="t2005" /> Dulko gained her revenge in the quarterfinal at Estoril in April.<ref name="t2005" />
Line 85:		Line 85:
	2006 started poorly for Zheng in singles, with a string of six<ref name="t2006" /> successive first-round losses dipping her ranking to World No. 56 by the end of February. However, after a first round loss in Indian Wells, her 2006 singles breakthrough came at ] where she reached the quarterfinals with wins over ] and ] before falling to ] 3–6, 6–3, 6–2.<ref name="t2006"></ref>		2006 started poorly for Zheng in singles, with a string of six<ref name="t2006" /> successive first-round losses dipping her ranking to World No. 56 by the end of February. However, after a first round loss in Indian Wells, her 2006 singles breakthrough came at ] where she reached the quarterfinals with wins over ] and ] before falling to ] 3–6, 6–3, 6–2.<ref name="t2006"></ref>

	Zheng's new found confidence earned a title at her next tournament in Estoril, where she defeated top-seeded ] en route to the final<ref name="t2006" /> before a victory over compatriot ] whom was forced to retire at one set each.<ref name="wtatour" /> Successful results continued in ], where only an in-form ] stopped her from reaching the quarterfinals. The Russian second seed took the match 7–6, 4–6, 6–4.<ref name="t2006" /> In ], Zheng displayed yet more fine form to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to second-seeded Czech ] 6–4, 4–6, 6–2.<ref name="t2006" />		Zheng's new found confidence earned a title at her next tournament in Estoril, where she defeated top-seeded ] en route to the final<ref name="t2006" /> before a victory over compatriot ] whom was forced to retire at one set each.<ref name="wtatour" /> Successful results continued in Berlin, where only an in-form ] stopped her from reaching the quarterfinals. The Russian second seed took the match 7–6, 4–6, 6–4.<ref name="t2006" /> In ], Zheng displayed yet more fine form to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to second-seeded Czech ] 6–4, 4–6, 6–2.<ref name="t2006" />

	In August, Zheng won the tournament in Stockholm without dropping a set. In the final, she defeated the top seed and former World No. 2 ] 6–4, 6–1. The win over Myskina avenged Zheng's tough three set loss to the Russian at the start of the year.<ref name="t2006" /> In ], she fell to eventual champion ] 6–4, 6–7, 6–2.<ref name="t2006" /> A knee injury hampered Zheng's singles progess towards the end of 2006. Her US Open ended in a second round defeat to ] and her last competitive match of the season saw her worst loss in terms of rankings, where she fell in the second round of Zurich qualifying to World No. 139 ] of Poland.<ref></ref>		In August, Zheng won the tournament in Stockholm without dropping a set. In the final, she defeated the top seed and former World No. 2 ] 6–4, 6–1. The win over Myskina avenged Zheng's tough three set loss to the Russian at the start of the year.<ref name="t2006" /> In ], she fell to eventual champion ] 6–4, 6–7, 6–2.<ref name="t2006" /> A knee injury hampered Zheng's singles progess towards the end of 2006. Her US Open ended in a second round defeat to ] and her last competitive match of the season saw her worst loss in terms of rankings, where she fell in the second round of Zurich qualifying to World No. 139 ] of Poland.<ref></ref>
Line 97:		Line 97:
	At the Australian Open, Zheng put in an extremely disappointing performance, losing to then 97th ranked ] of Germany 4–6, 7–6, 6–4 after holding match point on more than one occasion.<ref name="t2007"></ref> In doubles, her title defense with Yan Zi began in style, as the pair reeled off two consecutive straight sets wins for the loss of only three games. Their third round encounter against ] and ] proved more difficult, but after squandering the first set they managed to dominate for an eventual 4–6, 6–1, 6–2 victory. A quarterfinal match up against a Chinese sister act was won in straight sets, before Jie Zheng and Zi Yan fell in the semifinals to Yung Jan Chan and Chia Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei - the same partnership which they managed to defeat easily in the final of the Doha Asian Games just 1 month previously.		At the Australian Open, Zheng put in an extremely disappointing performance, losing to then 97th ranked ] of Germany 4–6, 7–6, 6–4 after holding match point on more than one occasion.<ref name="t2007"></ref> In doubles, her title defense with Yan Zi began in style, as the pair reeled off two consecutive straight sets wins for the loss of only three games. Their third round encounter against ] and ] proved more difficult, but after squandering the first set they managed to dominate for an eventual 4–6, 6–1, 6–2 victory. A quarterfinal match up against a Chinese sister act was won in straight sets, before Jie Zheng and Zi Yan fell in the semifinals to Yung Jan Chan and Chia Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei - the same partnership which they managed to defeat easily in the final of the Doha Asian Games just 1 month previously.

	In her next event in ] (tier I), Zheng looks good in her first round, winning against qualifier ] 6–2 6–1. However, in the next round, she suffered a 6–4, 6–0 defeat to Serbia's ] without earning a single break point.{{Fact\|date=June 2008}}		In her next event in Tokyo (tier I), Zheng looks good in her first round, winning against qualifier ] 6–2 6–1. However, in the next round, she suffered a 6–4, 6–0 defeat to Serbia's ] without earning a single break point.{{Fact\|date=June 2008}}
	Zheng's next tournament, ], took place more than a month after her severe loss to Janković. However, the rest time did not seem to serve her well, and after receiving a bye in the first round (as the 22nd seed), she was defeated by Belarusian qualifier ] 6–3 7–5.<ref name="t2007" />		Zheng's next tournament, ], took place more than a month after her severe loss to Janković. However, the rest time did not seem to serve her well, and after receiving a bye in the first round (as the 22nd seed), she was defeated by Belarusian qualifier ] 6–3 7–5.<ref name="t2007" />

Line 112:		Line 112:
	Zheng's singles was not faring so well, but at the ] ] in Indian Wells, she managed to come through qualifying and then defeated ] in the first round 6–0, 6–1 and then thrashed 30th-seeded ] in the second round 6–2, 6–4. She lost to eventual quarterfinalist and defending champion ] in the third round 6–4, 6–2.<ref name="t2008" />		Zheng's singles was not faring so well, but at the ] ] in Indian Wells, she managed to come through qualifying and then defeated ] in the first round 6–0, 6–1 and then thrashed 30th-seeded ] in the second round 6–2, 6–4. She lost to eventual quarterfinalist and defending champion ] in the third round 6–4, 6–2.<ref name="t2008" />

	Following her showing at Indian Wells, Zheng entered the main draw of the Tier I ] in ]. Zheng defeated qualifier ] then got through to the third round following 14th seed ] retirement after just three games of their match. She then managed to defeat former World No. 1 and Grand Slam singles champion ] in the third round 5–7, 6–4, 6–4. Zheng was then defeated by World No. 3 ] in the fourth round 6–4, 7–5.<ref name="t2008" /> After this, Zheng played only three matches on the WTA Tour until the ] qualifying, playing two in China's ] loss against Spain and one qualifying match for the Tier I ] in ], which she lost 6–3, 6–2.		Following her showing at Indian Wells, Zheng entered the main draw of the Tier I ] in ]. Zheng defeated qualifier ] then got through to the third round following 14th seed ] retirement after just three games of their match. She then managed to defeat former World No. 1 and Grand Slam singles champion ] in the third round 5–7, 6–4, 6–4. Zheng was then defeated by World No. 3 ] in the fourth round 6–4, 7–5.<ref name="t2008" /> After this, Zheng played only three matches on the WTA Tour until the ] qualifying, playing two in China's ] loss against Spain and one qualifying match for the Tier I ] in Rome, which she lost 6–3, 6–2.

	Going into the French Open qualifying, Zheng was unseeded but managed to defeat ] in the first round 4–6, 7–5, 8–6. She then crushed Charlotte Rodier of France 6–0, 6–3 to reach the final round of qualifying where she defeated ] of Germany 6–3, 7–6(4) to reach the main draw of the French Open. After beating ] in three sets, Zheng beat the 21st-seeded ], also in three sets, to reach the third round before losing to Russia's ] 6–2, 7–5.<ref name="t2008" />		Going into the French Open qualifying, Zheng was unseeded but managed to defeat ] in the first round 4–6, 7–5, 8–6. She then crushed Charlotte Rodier of France 6–0, 6–3 to reach the final round of qualifying where she defeated ] of Germany 6–3, 7–6(4) to reach the main draw of the French Open. After beating ] in three sets, Zheng beat the 21st-seeded ], also in three sets, to reach the third round before losing to Russia's ] 6–2, 7–5.<ref name="t2008" />

	Despite only being ranked World No. 133, preventing her from directly qualifying for the Wimbledon singles main draw, Zheng was given a ] into the main draw, where she defeated seeded Slovakian ] in the first round, then Great Britain's ] in the second. She then went on to defeat the first seed and World No. 1 ] in the third round 6–1, 6–4. This was her first victory against a top 10 player.<ref></ref> Zheng beat ] of Hungary, the 15th seed, 6–3, 6–4 in the fourth round, and 18th-seeded ] of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals 6–2, 5–7, 6–1. This was Zheng's best singles result in a Grand Slam tournament and made her the first Chinese women's tennis player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, surpassing the previous record of a quarterfinal finish set by her compatriot ] at the same event in 2006. She also became the first wild card to reach the semifinals of the women's singles at Wimbledon.<ref name="qr">{{Cite web\|url=http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/match_reports/2008-07-01/200807011214930243609.html\|title=Zheng zooms into record books\|accessyear=2008\|accessmonthday=July 1\|year=2008\|author=Sally Easton}}</ref> In the semifinals, Zheng lost to two-time Wimbledon champion and former World No. 1 ] 6-2, 7-6(5). Zheng had a set point on Williams's service at 5-6 (30-40) in Zheng's favour but hit a backhand into the high part of the net, thus losing her only chance to level the match. Zheng's strong Wimbledon performance elevated her ranking from World No. 133 to World No. 40.		Despite only being ranked World No. 133, preventing her from directly qualifying for the Wimbledon singles main draw, Zheng was given a ] into the main draw, where she defeated seeded Slovakian ] in the first round, then Great Britain's ] in the second. She then went on to defeat the first seed and World No. 1 ] in the third round 6–1, 6–4. This was her first victory against a top 10 player.<ref></ref> Zheng beat ] of Hungary, the 15th seed, 6–3, 6–4 in the fourth round, and 18th-seeded ] of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals 6–2, 5–7, 6–1. This was Zheng's best singles result in a Grand Slam tournament and made her the first Chinese women's tennis player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, surpassing the previous record of a quarterfinal finish set by her compatriot Li Na at the same event in 2006. She also became the first wild card to reach the semifinals of the women's singles at Wimbledon.<ref name="qr">{{Cite web\|url=http://www.wimbledon.org/en_GB/news/match_reports/2008-07-01/200807011214930243609.html\|title=Zheng zooms into record books\|accessyear=2008\|accessmonthday=July 1\|year=2008\|author=Sally Easton}}</ref> In the semifinals, Zheng lost to two-time Wimbledon champion and former World No. 1 ] 6-2, 7-6(5). Zheng had a set point on Williams's service at 5-6 (30-40) in Zheng's favour but hit a backhand into the high part of the net, thus losing her only chance to level the match. Zheng's strong Wimbledon performance elevated her ranking from World No. 133 to World No. 40.

	]]]		]]]
Line 125:		Line 125:
	After the Olympics, Zheng entered the ] unseeded in women's singles. In the first round, she defeated unseeded ] of the U.S. 6-2, 6-3. In the second round, she beat 26th-seeded ] of Spain 6-1, 6-4. In the third round, she lost to second-seeded ] of Serbia 7-5, 7-5 after 11 deuces in the last game.<ref></ref> Zheng was seeded third in the Tier III Guangzhou International Open held in September and made it to the semifinals before losing to top-seeded ] 6-3, 7-5.		After the Olympics, Zheng entered the ] unseeded in women's singles. In the first round, she defeated unseeded ] of the U.S. 6-2, 6-3. In the second round, she beat 26th-seeded ] of Spain 6-1, 6-4. In the third round, she lost to second-seeded ] of Serbia 7-5, 7-5 after 11 deuces in the last game.<ref></ref> Zheng was seeded third in the Tier III Guangzhou International Open held in September and made it to the semifinals before losing to top-seeded ] 6-3, 7-5.

	Ranked World No. 30, Zheng returned in September to Beijing for the ] Tier II tournament. Unseeded, she recorded her second and third victories over top 10 players, marching past World No. 10 and sixth-seeded] of Poland in the first round, 6-2, 6-3, ] of Japan in the second round 6-1, 6-2, and World No. 4 and second-seeded ] of Serbia in the quarterfinals 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4. Playing in the semifinals matched the previous best Chinese player China Open results of ] in 2006, but Zheng fell to World No. 7 and fourth-seeded ] of Russia, 7-6(3), 7-5.<ref></ref> Based on her strong China Open performance, Zheng became Asia's and China's highest ranked women's singles player at World No. 26, her highest to-date career WTA singles ranking.<ref name="wtatour" /> She later reached World No. 23 on ] .		Ranked World No. 30, Zheng returned in September to Beijing for the ] Tier II tournament. Unseeded, she recorded her second and third victories over top 10 players, marching past World No. 10 and sixth-seeded] of Poland in the first round, 6-2, 6-3, ] of Japan in the second round 6-1, 6-2, and World No. 4 and second-seeded ] of Serbia in the quarterfinals 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4. Playing in the semifinals matched the previous best Chinese player China Open results of ] in 2006, but Zheng fell to World No. 7 and fourth-seeded ] of Russia, 7-6(3), 7-5.<ref></ref> Based on her strong China Open performance, Zheng became Asia's and China's highest ranked women's singles player at World No. 26, her highest to-date career WTA singles ranking.<ref name="wtatour" /> She later reached World No. 23 on 20 October 2008.

	==Doubles career==		==Doubles career==
Line 137:		Line 137:
	\| ]		\| ]
	\| ]		\| ]
	\| Partnered by ] (])		\| Partnered by ] (China)
	\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"		\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
	\|<center>'''Round'''</center>		\|<center>'''Round'''</center>
Line 145:		Line 145:
	\|-		\|-
	\| First Round		\| First Round
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (Russia) / ] (Russia)
	\| 6–1, 6–0		\| 6–1, 6–0
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\| Second Round		\| Second Round
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (Spain) / ] (Spain)
	\| 6–4, 6–0		\| 6–4, 6–0
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\| Third Round		\| Third Round
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (Russia) / ] (Italy)
	\| 6–1, 6–2		\| 6–1, 6–2
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\| Quarterfinal		\| Quarterfinal
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (Spain) / ] (])
	\| 4–6 7–5 6–1		\| 4–6 7–5 6–1
	\| Saved three match points.		\| Saved three match points.
	\|-		\|-
	\| Semifinal		\| Semifinal
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (Japan) / ] (Slovenia)
	\| 6–2, 7–6 (2)		\| 6–2, 7–6 (2)
	\|		\|
	\|-		\|-
	\| Final		\| Final
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (United States) / ] (Australia)
	\| 2–6, 7–6 (7), 6–3		\| 2–6, 7–6 (7), 6–3
	\| Saved two championship points in the second set tiebreak, and needing only a single championship point of their own to claim the title.		\| Saved two championship points in the second set tiebreak, and needing only a single championship point of their own to claim the title.
Line 183:		Line 183:
	\| ]		\| ]
	\| ]		\| ]
	\| Partnered by ] (])		\| Partnered by ] (China)
	\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"		\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
	\|<center>'''Round'''</center>		\|<center>'''Round'''</center>
Line 191:		Line 191:
	\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"		\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
	\| First Round		\| First Round
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (Hungary) / ] (United States)
	\| 6–3, 6–1		\| 6–3, 6–1
	\|		\|
	\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"		\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
	\| Second Round		\| Second Round
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (]) / ] (Russia)
	\| 6–0, 7–6 (4)		\| 6–0, 7–6 (4)
	\|		\|
	\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"		\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
	\| Third Round		\| Third Round
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (Italy) / ] (Italy)
	\| 4–6, 6–2, 6–0		\| 4–6, 6–2, 6–0
	\|		\|
	\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"		\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
	\| Quarterfinals		\| Quarterfinals
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (]) / ] (United States)
	\| 4–6, 6–4, 6–0		\| 4–6, 6–4, 6–0
	\|		\|
	\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"		\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
	\| Semifinals		\| Semifinals
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (]) / ] (Australia)
	\| 6–2, 7–6 (3)		\| 6–2, 7–6 (3)
	\|		\|
	\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"		\|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
	\| Final		\| Final
	\| ] (]) / ] (])		\| ] (Spain) / ] (])
	\| 6–3, 3–6, 6–2		\| 6–3, 3–6, 6–2
	\|		\|
Line 252:		Line 252:
	\|-bgcolor="#66CCFF"		\|-bgcolor="#66CCFF"
	\| \|1.		\| \|1.
	\| \|] ]		\| \|14 January 2005
	\| \|], ]		\| \|], Australia
	\| \|V		\| \|V
	\| \|Hard		\| \|Hard
Line 260:		Line 260:
	\|-bgcolor="#66CCFF"		\|-bgcolor="#66CCFF"
	\| \|2.		\| \|2.
	\| \|] ]		\| \|7 May 2006
	\| \|], ]		\| \|], Portugal
	\| \|IV		\| \|IV
	\| \|Clay		\| \|Clay
Line 268:		Line 268:
	\|-bgcolor="#66CCFF"		\|-bgcolor="#66CCFF"
	\| \|3.		\| \|3.
	\| \|] ]		\| \|13 August 2006
	\| \|], ]		\| \|], Sweden
	\| \|IV		\| \|IV
	\| \|Hard		\| \|Hard
Line 310:		Line 310:
	\|- bgcolor="#66CCFF"		\|- bgcolor="#66CCFF"
	\| 1.		\| 1.
	\| ] ]		\| 14 January 2005
	\| ], ]		\| ], Australia
	\| Hard		\| Hard
	\| {{flagicon\|China}} ]		\| {{flagicon\|China}} ]
Line 318:		Line 318:
	\|- bgcolor="#66CCFF"		\|- bgcolor="#66CCFF"
	\| 2.		\| 2.
	\| ] ]		\| 12 February 2005
	\| ], ]		\| ], India
	\| Hard		\| Hard
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi
Line 326:		Line 326:
	\|- bgcolor="#FFFF99"		\|- bgcolor="#FFFF99"
	\| 3.		\| 3.
	\| ] ]		\| 28 January 2006
	\| ], ]		\| ], Australia
	\| Hard		\| Hard
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi
Line 334:		Line 334:
	\|- bgcolor="#ffcccc"		\|- bgcolor="#ffcccc"
	\| 4.		\| 4.
	\| ] ]		\| 14 May 2006
	\| ], ]		\| ], Germany
	\| Clay		\| Clay
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi
Line 342:		Line 342:
	\|- bgcolor="#66CCFF"		\|- bgcolor="#66CCFF"
	\| 5.		\| 5.
	\| ] ]		\| 21 May 2006
	\| ], ]		\| ], ]
	\| Clay		\| Clay
Line 350:		Line 350:
	\|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"		\|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
	\| 6.		\| 6.
	\| ] ]		\| 24 June 2006
	\| ], ]		\| ], Netherlands
	\| Grass		\| Grass
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi
Line 358:		Line 358:
	\|- bgcolor="#FFFF99"		\|- bgcolor="#FFFF99"
	\| 7.		\| 7.
	\| ] ]		\| 8 July 2006
	\| ], ]		\| ], Great Britain
	\| Grass		\| Grass
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi
Line 366:		Line 366:
	\|- bgcolor="#ccccff"		\|- bgcolor="#ccccff"
	\| 8.		\| 8.
	\| ] ]		\| 26 August 2006
	\| ], ]		\| ], USA
	\| Hard		\| Hard
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi
Line 374:		Line 374:
	\|- bgcolor="#ffcccc"		\|- bgcolor="#ffcccc"
	\| 9.		\| 9.
	\| ] ]		\| 15 April 2007
	\| ], ]		\| ], USA
	\| Clay		\| Clay
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi
Line 382:		Line 382:
	\|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"		\|- bgcolor="#CCFFCC"
	\| 10.		\| 10.
	\| ] ]		\| 26 May 2007
	\| ], ]		\| ], France
	\| Clay		\| Clay
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi
Line 390:		Line 390:
	\|- bgcolor="#ccccff"		\|- bgcolor="#ccccff"
	\| 11.		\| 11.
	\| ] ]		\| 11 January 2008
	\| ], ]		\| ], Australia
	\| Hard		\| Hard
	\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi		\| {{flagicon\|CHN}} Yan Zi

Revision as of 09:30, 15 November 2008

Template:Chinese name

Zheng Jie
Singles

Country (sports)	People's Republic of China
Residence	Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 4+1⁄2 in)
Turned pro	16 January 2003
Plays	right; two-handed backhand
Prize money	US$2,324,564
Career record	244–138
Career titles	3 WTA, 4 ITF titles
Highest ranking	23 (20 October 2008)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	1r (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007)
French Open	4r (2004)
Wimbledon	SF (2008)
US Open	3r (2008)
Doubles
Career record	264–107
Career titles	11 WTA, 16 ITF titles
Highest ranking	3 (10 July 2006)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (2006)
French Open	SF (2006)
Wimbledon	W (2006)
US Open	QF (2005, 2006, 2008)
Last updated on: 3 November2008.

Zheng Jie
Medal record
Women's Tennis
Olympic Games
	Beijing 2008	Doubles
Asian Games
	2006 Doha	Singles
	2006 Doha	Doubles

Zheng Jie (simplified Chinese: 郑洁; traditional Chinese: 鄭潔; pinyin: Zhèng Jié; born 5 July 1983) is a Chinese professional female tennis player. She was born in Chengdu, Sichuan province. She made her WTA rankings debut in 2000. She turned professional in 2003 and ended the year for the first time in the top 100. As of 3 November 2008, she is ranked world No. 25, making her China's and Asia's second-highest-ranked women's singles player behind Li Na of China, who is ranked World No. 23.

At Wimbledon in 2008, Zheng gained recognition by becoming the first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, defeating World No. 1 Ana Ivanović en route . She donated her winnings to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, in her native province. She has won three career WTA singles titles: Hobart in 2005, Estoril, Portugal and Stockholm in 2006. She also has won eleven WTA doubles titles, all with Yan Zi, including Grand Slam tournaments Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Zheng Jie and her partner Yan Zi won the bronze medal in women's tennis doubles, the second time China has ever won an Olympics tennis medal.

Singles career

2002

In May 2002, she won two successive $25,000 ITF singles tournaments, at Shanghai and Tianjin, right after reaching her first $50,000 tournament quarterfinal, at Fukuoka, Japan. That September, she gained direct entry into a WTA tournament at Shanghai, and reached Round Two before losing to Anna Kournikova. She ended the year as World No. 183.

2003

In 2003, she qualified for Hyderabad and took a love set against Mary Pierce in the main draw first round, only to lose the match in three. She also qualified for Doha, but then lost to Lina Krasnoroutskaya.

Later in the year, she defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round of a $25,000 ITF tournament, Alyona Bondarenko in the first round of qualifying for Palermo, and Maria-Elena Camerin at another $50,000 ITF event in July, where she reached the quarterfinal; but it was in August at Bronx that she won her first $50,000 tournament, beating a cast of future stars in the forms of Shenay Perry, Jamea Jackson, Akiko Morigami, Adriana Serra Zanetti and (in the final) Maria Kirilenko to this end.

Although Kirilenko avenged this defeat in qualifying at the US Open, Zheng proceeded to qualify for Bali in September with crushing victories over Yan Zi and Yuka Yoshida, then vanquished Flavia Pennetta 6–3 6–2 in the first round of the main draw before bowing out to Tamarine Tanasugarn.

However, the very next month she defeated Tanasugarn at the Japan Open, where she reached her first WTA semifinal before losing to Maria Sharapova.

At the end of October, she reached another WTA quarterfinal at Quebec City with a second-round win over Antonella Serra Zanetti before losing in three sets to Laura Granville.

In December, she was a losing finalist at two successive $50,000 tournaments, falling in three sets to countrywoman Peng Shuai at Changsha (after victories over Sesil Karatantcheva, Camille Pin and Aiko Nakamura) and, also in three sets, to the same Sesil Karatantcheva (after beating Sun Tiantian in the semifinal) at Shenzhen. These impressive results catapulted Zheng into the World Top 100, bringing her a year-end ranking of 93.

2004

The following year brought further improvements in her singles results. She reached the quarterfinals at Hyderabad and Doha (where she comfortably beat Jelena Dokić in Round Two), and the second round at Miami and Vienna (where she beat Lisa Raymond 6–3 6–2). Then at the French Open, playing only her second Grand Slam singles main draw (after gaining direct entry to the Australian Open but losing in the first round), she defeated Dally Randriantefy, Émilie Loit and Tathiana Garbin in succession to reach the fourth round, where she lost to Paola Suárez in two close sets, 6–4, 7–5. She was the first Chinese women to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam.

At the Olympics in Athens, she lost 6–8 in the final set of her first round match to Ai Sugiyama despite taking the first set 6–4. In September, she won a $25,000 ITF tournament at Beijing, defeating Yan Zi in the semifinal and Li Na in the final. But it was another of her countrywomen, Peng Shuai, who stopped her at the final hurdle in a $50,000 tournament at Shenzhen late that November, although she had impressively conquered Yan Zi again in the semifinal, the latter having accounted for Li Na in the quarterfinal stage. Zheng ended the year world-ranked 67.

2005

In 2005, she began the year with a flourish by capturing her first WTA singles title at Hobart, after wins over some highly capable players, namely Mariana Díaz-Oliva, Shinobu Asagoe, Klara Koukalová, Li Na and Gisela Dulko.

She qualified for Dubai with wins over Sandra Kleinová, Maria-Elena Camerin and Virginia Ruano-Pascual, and went on to defeat Anabel Medina Garrigues in the main draw before succumbing to Lindsay Davenport. Dulko gained her revenge in the quarterfinal at Estoril in April.

But Zheng remained in fine form, and reached the her second WTA final at Rabat, Morocco in May, losing to Nuria Llagostera Vives after wins over Catalina Castaño, Maureen Drake and Tathiana Garbin, followed by a walk-over against Na Li who had to retire at 3–3 from an ankle sprain.

A three-set loss to Francesca Schiavone in the first round of the French Open prevented Zheng from defending her ranking points accrued there the previous year. But she recovered to record several more impressive results in August, reaching the second round at Los Angeles by again beating Shinobu Asagoe, the Canadian Open quarterfinal (with wins over Maria-Emilia Salerni and Ai Sugiyama), and another quarterfinal at New Haven (after defeating Katarina Srebotnik and Émilie Loit in qualifying, and Jamea Jackson in the main draw, though she was assisted by entering the tournament with a first-round bye and as a lucky loser in the final-round of qualifying to Jelena Kostanić).

At the end of the month, she advanced to the second round at the US Open by defeating Iveta Benešová. Further impressive first-round wins in September over Maria Vento-Kabchi (at Bali) and Jelena Janković (at Beijing) could not be consolidated on in subsequent rounds of the respective tournaments; but at Guangzhou, the last tournament she would play all year, she reached the semifinal with wins over Carly Gullickson, Jamea Jackson and Maria Kirilenko, before suffering her second loss of the year to Nuria Llagostera Vives. This string of results lifted her to a career-high world ranking of 42 in early October 2005.

2006

2006 started poorly for Zheng in singles, with a string of six successive first-round losses dipping her ranking to World No. 56 by the end of February. However, after a first round loss in Indian Wells, her 2006 singles breakthrough came at Key Biscayne, Florida where she reached the quarterfinals with wins over Nathalie Dechy and Anna-Lena Groenefeld before falling to Tatiana Golovin 3–6, 6–3, 6–2.

Zheng's new found confidence earned a title at her next tournament in Estoril, where she defeated top-seeded Flavia Pennetta en route to the final before a victory over compatriot Na Li whom was forced to retire at one set each. Successful results continued in Berlin, where only an in-form Nadia Petrova stopped her from reaching the quarterfinals. The Russian second seed took the match 7–6, 4–6, 6–4. In Strasbourg, Zheng displayed yet more fine form to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to second-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidišová 6–4, 4–6, 6–2.

In August, Zheng won the tournament in Stockholm without dropping a set. In the final, she defeated the top seed and former World No. 2 Anastasia Myskina 6–4, 6–1. The win over Myskina avenged Zheng's tough three set loss to the Russian at the start of the year. In Montreal, she fell to eventual champion Ana Ivanović 6–4, 6–7, 6–2. A knee injury hampered Zheng's singles progess towards the end of 2006. Her US Open ended in a second round defeat to Anastassia Rodionova and her last competitive match of the season saw her worst loss in terms of rankings, where she fell in the second round of Zurich qualifying to World No. 139 Joanna Sacowicz of Poland.

However, in December, Zheng took part in the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar. After a surprising first round loss in the team event, she went into the singles competition as the second seed. Recording victories over Shikha Uberoi, Yung Jan Chan, Aiko Nakamura and a resurgent Sania Mirza (6–4, 1–6, 6–1), she claimed the gold medal. She also took gold in doubles with partner Yan Zi, winning 6–1, 7–6 against Yung Jan Chan and Chia Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei. To end 2006, Zheng won the Chinese National Championships, with a three set victory over her doubles partner in the final.

2007

2007 started well for Zheng, where she reached a second Hobart quarterfinal, recording solid victories over qualifier Stéphanie Foretz and Séverine Brémond of France. After taking the first set against rising Russian Anna Chakvetadze, Zheng only managed another two games with the match ending 4–6, 6–1, 6–1. Chakvetadze would then go on to win the tournament.

At the Australian Open, Zheng put in an extremely disappointing performance, losing to then 97th ranked Julia Schruff of Germany 4–6, 7–6, 6–4 after holding match point on more than one occasion. In doubles, her title defense with Yan Zi began in style, as the pair reeled off two consecutive straight sets wins for the loss of only three games. Their third round encounter against Elena Dementieva and Flavia Pennetta proved more difficult, but after squandering the first set they managed to dominate for an eventual 4–6, 6–1, 6–2 victory. A quarterfinal match up against a Chinese sister act was won in straight sets, before Jie Zheng and Zi Yan fell in the semifinals to Yung Jan Chan and Chia Jung Chuang of Chinese Taipei - the same partnership which they managed to defeat easily in the final of the Doha Asian Games just 1 month previously.

In her next event in Tokyo (tier I), Zheng looks good in her first round, winning against qualifier Bethanie Mattek 6–2 6–1. However, in the next round, she suffered a 6–4, 6–0 defeat to Serbia's Jelena Janković without earning a single break point. Zheng's next tournament, Indian Wells, took place more than a month after her severe loss to Janković. However, the rest time did not seem to serve her well, and after receiving a bye in the first round (as the 22nd seed), she was defeated by Belarusian qualifier Victoria Azarenka 6–3 7–5.

In her next tournament, Miami (tier 1), Zheng was a defending quarterfinalist after a magnificent 2006 showing; but after receiving another first round bye, she slumped to a straight sets loss to Pole Agnieszka Radwańska, seeing her ranking fall out of the top 40 for the first time since May 2006. A decent showing in Amelia Island saw Zheng back in to the top 40, as she fell to a 6–2, 6–3 loss at the hands of top seed and defending champion Nadia Petrova in the third round. In Charleston, Zheng again reached the third round, recording her first top 20 win of the season over Shahar Pe'er, perhaps overlooked due to the fact that the Israeli was suffering from a hand injury. In doubles she won the prestigious Charleston tournament with partner Yan Zi.

After just short of a month, another first round loss was on the cards for the Chinese woman in Berlin as she was defeated by Italian Maria Elena Camerin 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 after an impressive first set. Zheng participated in the Tier III event held in Strasbourg, France. This was her last preparation with doubles partner Yan Zi for the French Open. The Chinese duo won the event in terrific form, not dropping a set the entire week. They won their quarterfinal match 6–0, 6–2, the semifinals 6–3, 6–1, and the final 6–3, 6–4. Zheng competed in the both the singles and doubles (with Yan Zi) of the French Open. At the beginning of the tournament, she sustained an ankle injury, hampering her performance. She was knocked out in the first round of the singles competition by Timea Bacsinszky 7–6(3) 6–0. She had no more luck in the doubles, going out to Llagostera Vives and Sanchez in the first round.

The ankle injury sustained at the French Open ruled her out of Wimbledon to defend her doubles title. She withdrew from all events for the rest of the year because of the ankle injury. Her ranking suffered as a result, ending the year ranked World No. 163.

2008

Zheng Jie's return to the tour was successful; in singles, she won two qualifying matches in Gold Coast before losing to Alisa Kleybanova. In doubles, she and Zi Yan reached the final, only to lose 6–1, 6–2 to the third seeds, Safina and Szávay. However, in Sydney, the duo won the title, beating second seeds Sugiyama and Srebotnik and reigning US Open champions Dechy and Safina along the way. At the Australian Open, the duo got off to a good start, with three easy straight set wins and then beat the Williams sisters 3–6, 6–4, 6–2 in the quarterfinals to get their semifinal berth. In the semifinals, they led 6–0, 5–4 (40–15) against the 12th seeds Peer and Azarenka before losing 0–6, 7–5, 7–6(3).

Zheng's singles was not faring so well, but at the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, she managed to come through qualifying and then defeated Émilie Loit in the first round 6–0, 6–1 and then thrashed 30th-seeded Kateryna Bondarenko in the second round 6–2, 6–4. She lost to eventual quarterfinalist and defending champion Daniela Hantuchová in the third round 6–4, 6–2.

Following her showing at Indian Wells, Zheng entered the main draw of the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. Zheng defeated qualifier Galina Voskoboeva then got through to the third round following 14th seed Nadia Petrova's retirement after just three games of their match. She then managed to defeat former World No. 1 and Grand Slam singles champion Amélie Mauresmo in the third round 5–7, 6–4, 6–4. Zheng was then defeated by World No. 3 Jelena Janković in the fourth round 6–4, 7–5. After this, Zheng played only three matches on the WTA Tour until the French Open qualifying, playing two in China's Fed Cup loss against Spain and one qualifying match for the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, which she lost 6–3, 6–2.

Going into the French Open qualifying, Zheng was unseeded but managed to defeat Lucie Hradecká in the first round 4–6, 7–5, 8–6. She then crushed Charlotte Rodier of France 6–0, 6–3 to reach the final round of qualifying where she defeated Kristina Barrois of Germany 6–3, 7–6(4) to reach the main draw of the French Open. After beating Mara Santangelo in three sets, Zheng beat the 21st-seeded Maria Kirilenko, also in three sets, to reach the third round before losing to Russia's Dinara Safina 6–2, 7–5.

Despite only being ranked World No. 133, preventing her from directly qualifying for the Wimbledon singles main draw, Zheng was given a wild card into the main draw, where she defeated seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulková in the first round, then Great Britain's Elena Baltacha in the second. She then went on to defeat the first seed and World No. 1 Ana Ivanović in the third round 6–1, 6–4. This was her first victory against a top 10 player. Zheng beat Ágnes Szávay of Hungary, the 15th seed, 6–3, 6–4 in the fourth round, and 18th-seeded Nicole Vaidišová of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals 6–2, 5–7, 6–1. This was Zheng's best singles result in a Grand Slam tournament and made her the first Chinese women's tennis player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, surpassing the previous record of a quarterfinal finish set by her compatriot Li Na at the same event in 2006. She also became the first wild card to reach the semifinals of the women's singles at Wimbledon. In the semifinals, Zheng lost to two-time Wimbledon champion and former World No. 1 Serena Williams 6-2, 7-6(5). Zheng had a set point on Williams's service at 5-6 (30-40) in Zheng's favour but hit a backhand into the high part of the net, thus losing her only chance to level the match. Zheng's strong Wimbledon performance elevated her ranking from World No. 133 to World No. 40.

She will donate her prize money from the tournament to and spend time helping the victims and post-reconstruction effort of the May 12 earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people and left 5 to 10 million homeless in her home province Sichuan. She did the same with her French Open prize money earlier in the year.

In August 2008, Zheng competed for China in both singles and doubles at the Beijing Olympics. Zheng won her first round match against 11th-seeded Ágnes Szávay of Hungary, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. She then defeated unseeded Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain in the second round, 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4, in a three hour match. Zheng eventually lost in the third round, 6–4, 6–3, to sixth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia (who eventually won the singles silver medal). Zheng had better results in doubles with her partner Yan Zi, where they were seeded eighth. After losing in the semifinals to the fourth-seeded Spanish team of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-4, 7-6 (5) for a spot in the gold medal final, they won the bronze medal match against the Ukrainian sisters team of Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko 6–2, 6–2. This was the second Olympics tennis medal ever won by China.

After the Olympics, Zheng entered the US Open unseeded in women's singles. In the first round, she defeated unseeded Shenay Perry of the U.S. 6-2, 6-3. In the second round, she beat 26th-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-1, 6-4. In the third round, she lost to second-seeded Jelena Janković of Serbia 7-5, 7-5 after 11 deuces in the last game. Zheng was seeded third in the Tier III Guangzhou International Open held in September and made it to the semifinals before losing to top-seeded Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 7-5.

Ranked World No. 30, Zheng returned in September to Beijing for the China Open Tier II tournament. Unseeded, she recorded her second and third victories over top 10 players, marching past World No. 10 and sixth-seededAgnieszka Radwańska of Poland in the first round, 6-2, 6-3, Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the second round 6-1, 6-2, and World No. 4 and second-seeded Ana Ivanović of Serbia in the quarterfinals 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-4. Playing in the semifinals matched the previous best Chinese player China Open results of Shuai Peng in 2006, but Zheng fell to World No. 7 and fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, 7-6(3), 7-5. Based on her strong China Open performance, Zheng became Asia's and China's highest ranked women's singles player at World No. 26, her highest to-date career WTA singles ranking. She later reached World No. 23 on 20 October 2008.

Doubles career

The highlights of her doubles career to date have been her two Grand Slam tournament victories in 2006, detailed below:

Australian Open 2006

2006	Australian Open	Women's Doubles	Partnered by Yan Zi (China)
Round	Defeated	Score	Notes
First Round	Evgenia Linetskaya (Russia) / Galina Voskoboeva (Russia)	6–1, 6–0
Second Round	Lourdes Domínguez Lino (Spain) / Maria Sánchez Lorenzo (Spain)	6–4, 6–0
Third Round	Elena Dementieva (Russia) / Flavia Pennetta (Italy)	6–1, 6–2
Quarterfinal	Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain) / Paola Suárez (Argentina)	4–6 7–5 6–1	Saved three match points.
Semifinal	Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) / Katarina Srebotnik (Slovenia)	6–2, 7–6 (2)
Final	Lisa Raymond (United States) / Samantha Stosur (Australia)	2–6, 7–6 (7), 6–3	Saved two championship points in the second set tiebreak, and needing only a single championship point of their own to claim the title.

Wimbledon 2006

At Wimbledon, Zheng and Max Mirnyi, seeded two, reached the semifinals of the Mixed Doubles, where they were beaten by Bob Bryan and Venus Williams (who were unseeded), 7–5, 7–5. She triumphed in women's doubles with Yan Zi over Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suárez 6–3, 3–6, 6–2, capturing China's first Wimbledon title. With her win, she became the first Chinese tennis player to amass over 1 million dollars in career earnings. Their route to the final was so:

2006	Wimbledon	Women's Doubles	Partnered by Yan Zi (China)
Round	Defeated	Score	Notes
First Round	Melinda Czink (Hungary) / Vania King (United States)	6–3, 6–1
Second Round	Janette Husárová (Slovakia) / Vera Zvonareva (Russia)	6–0, 7–6 (4)
Third Round	Maria Elena Camerin (Italy) / Tathiana Garbin (Italy)	4–6, 6–2, 6–0
Quarterfinals	Liezel Huber (South Africa) / Martina Navratilova (United States)	4–6, 6–4, 6–0
Semifinals	Cara Black (Zimbabwe) / Rennae Stubbs (Australia)	6–2, 7–6 (3)
Final	Virginia Ruano Pascual (Spain) / Paola Suárez (Argentina)	6–3, 3–6, 6–2

WTA finals (16)

Singles wins (3)

Legend (Singles)

Grand Slam (0)

Tour Championships (0)

Tier I Event (0)

Tier II Event (0)

Tier III Event (0)

Tier IV/V Event (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Tier	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	14 January 2005	Hobart, Australia	V	Hard	Gisela Dulko	6–2, 6–0
2.	7 May 2006	Estoril, Portugal	IV	Clay	Li Na	6–7(5), 7–5, retired
3.	13 August 2006	Stockholm, Sweden	IV	Hard	Anastasia Myskina	6–4, 6–1

Singles runner-ups (2)

2005: Rabat (lost to Nuria Llagostera Vives)

Doubles wins (11)

Legend (Doubles)

Grand Slam (2)

Tour Championships (0)

Tier I Event (2)

Tier II Event (2)

Tier III Event (2)

Tier IV/V Event (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents in Final	Score in Final
1.	14 January 2005	Hobart, Australia	Hard	Yan Zi	Anabel Medina Garrigues & Dinara Safina	6–4, 7–5
2.	12 February 2005	Hyderabad, India	Hard	Yan Zi	Li Ting & Sun Tiantian	6–4 6–1
3.	28 January 2006	Australian Open, Australia	Hard	Yan Zi	Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur	2–6 7–6(7) 6–3
4.	14 May 2006	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Yan Zi	Elena Dementieva & Flavia Pennetta	6–2 6–3
5.	21 May 2006	Rabat, Morocco	Clay	Yan Zi	Ashley Harkleroad & Bethanie Mattek	6–1 6–3
6.	24 June 2006	s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Yan Zi	Ana Ivanović & Maria Kirilenko	3–6 6–2 6–2
7.	8 July 2006	Wimbledon, Great Britain	Grass	Yan Zi	Virginia Ruano Pascual & Paola Suárez	6–3 3–6 6–2
8.	26 August 2006	New Haven, USA	Hard	Yan Zi	Lisa Raymond & Samantha Stosur	6–4 6–2
9.	15 April 2007	Charleston, USA	Clay	Yan Zi	Peng Shuai & Sun Tiantian	7–5 6–0
10.	26 May 2007	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Yan Zi	Alicia Molik & Sun Tiantian	6–3 6–4
11.	11 January 2008	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Yan Zi	Tatiana Perebiynis & Tatiana Poutchek	6–4 7–6(5)

ITF titles (20)

Singles (4)

- - 2004 : ITF/Beijing 3
  - 2003 : ITF/Bronx
  - 2002 : ITF/Shanghai, ITF/Tianjin 1

Doubles (16)

- - 2005 : ITF/Beijing 1
  - 2004 : ITF/Shenzhen 1
  - 2003 : ITF/Redding, ITF/Gorizia, ITF/Orbetello, ITF/Sedona, ITF/Paducah
  - 2002 : ITF/Hull (w/Sun), ITF/Tipton, ITF/Ho Chi Minh City, ITF/Cagliari, ITF/Taranto, ITF/Maglie, ITF/Shanghai, ITF/Tianjin 1
  - 2001 : ITF/Hohhot

Performance timelines

Singles performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tournament	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Career SR	Career W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	-	Q1	1R	1R	1R	1R	-	0 / 4	0-4
French Open	-	Q3	4R	1R	2R	1R	3R	0 / 5	6-5
Wimbledon	-	-	1R	-	3R	-	SF	0 / 3	7-3
US Open	Q2	Q2	1R	2R	2R	-	3R	0 / 4	4-4
Grand Slam win-loss			3-4	1-3	4-4	0-2	9-3	N/A	17-16
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	NH	NH	1R	NH	NH	NH	3R	0 / 2	2-2
WTA Tier I tournaments
Doha	Not Tier I						1R	0 / 1
Indian Wells	-	-	-	-	1R	2R	3R	0 / 3
Key Biscayne	-	-	2R	-	QF	2R	4R	0 / 4
Charleston	-	-	1R	-	-	3R	-	0 / 2
Berlin	-	-	Q1	-	3R	1R	-	0 / 2
Rome	-	-	Q1	-	-	1R	Q1	0 / 1
Montréal / Toronto	-	-	-	3R	2R	-	-	0 / 2	3-2
Tokyo	-	-	1R	-	1R	2R	-	0 / 3	1-3
Moscow	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Former WTA Tier I tournaments
Zurich	-	-	-	-	Q2	-	NT1
San Diego	Not Tier I		-	-	-	-	NT1
Year end ranking	183	94	67	44	33	163	25	N/A	N/A

Doha became a Tier I event in 2008. San Diego and Zurich are no longer Tier I events.

Women's doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Career SR	Career W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	-	QF	1R	W	SF	SF	1 / 5
French Open	-	1R	3R	SF	1R	3R	0 / 5
Wimbledon	-	3R	-	W	-	3R	1 / 3
US Open	1R	2R	QF	QF	-	QF	0 / 5
Grand Slam SR	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 3	2 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 4	2 / 18	N/A
Grand Slam win-loss							N/A
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	NH	QF	NH	NH	NH	SF-B
Year-End Championship
WTA Tour Championships	-	-	-	SF	-
WTA Tier I tournaments
Doha	Not Tier I					2R
Indian Wells	-	-	-	2R	QF	F
Key Biscayne	-	QF	-	1R	QF	1R
Charleston	-	1R	-	-	W	-
Berlin	-	QF	-	W	-	-
Rome	-	1R	1R	-	-	2R
Montréal / Toronto	-	-	2R	QF	-
Tokyo	-	-	-	QF	SF
Moscow	-	-	-	-	-	-
Former WTA Tier I tournaments
Zurich	-	-	-	QF	-	NT1
San Diego	NT1	-	-	-	-	NT1
Year-end ranking	74	38	30	3	21		N/A	N/A

Mixed doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Australian Open	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
French Open	-	-	-	-	2R	-	SF
Wimbledon	-	-	-	-	SF	-	-
US Open	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

with Max Mirnyi
with Mahesh Bhupathi

Key

xR = lost in x round
SF = semifinalist
QF = quarterfinalist
F = finalist
W = won
- = did not play
NH = not held
Qx = lost in round x of qualifying

Personal

Zheng is coached by Jiang Hong Wei, China national women's tennis team head coach, and her husband is Zhang Yu, who is also her hitting partner.

Zheng is on the advisory staff of Yonex and uses their rackets. She wears clothing by Nike and appears in their advertising campaigns.

v t e Women's Tennis Association: Top ten female singles tennis players of countries in the Asian Tennis Federation
as of 7 October 2024
1. Elena Rybakina (5) 2. Zheng Qinwen (7) 3. Yulia Putintseva (35) 4. Yuan Yue (41)
5. Wang Xinyu (51) 6. Naomi Osaka (58) 7. Wang Yafan (60) 8. Moyuka Uchijima (64)
9. Wang Xiyu (99) 10. Zhu Lin (105)

References

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Singles Rankings
^ Zheng Jie Profile at WTA Tour.com: Career Highlights
The WTA Tour since 1996: Tournaments 2002
^ Zheng Jie Profile at WTA Tour.com: Biography
^ The WTA Tour Since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2003
^ The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2004
Tennis Corner: 2004 Roland Garros 2004 Ladies Singles Drawsheet
Tennis Corner: 2004 Olympics Ladies Singles drawsheet
^ The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng 2005 tournament activity
^ The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2006
Tennis Corner: Zurich 2006: Ladies Singles qualifying
^ The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2007
^ The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2008
Zheng upsets No. 1 Ivanovic at Wimbledon
Sally Easton (2008). "Zheng zooms into record books". {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessmonthday= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
Zheng looks forward to helping quake victims
Zheng Jie's Wimbledon cash boost for Sichuan Province earthquake
"Chinese revel in Zheng success". BBC Sport. 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
The US Open 2008 - Jie Zheng completed matches
China Open English home page
The New York Times: Chinese tennis no longer overlooks Zheng
China Daily: Zheng to seek Serena home remedy
Yonex advisory staff: Zheng Jie
The Wall Street Journal: Zheng Jie's a Breakthrough for Nike

External links

Jie Zheng at the Women's Tennis Association

 + * {{ITF profile}} template using deprecated numeric ID. 
 + * Zheng Jie at the Billie Jean King Cup

China's Aspiring Aces article from Time Magazine

Categories:

Misplaced Pages