Zheng Jie Serves up a Winner for China's Women's Tennis
Not only is she the first wild card to make it this far in the women's tournament, she’s also the first Chinese player to do so. She even handily defeated opponents like Ana Ivanovic, the top-ranked player in the world.
On top of that, she is from earthquake-hit Chengdu Province, and promised to donate all of her winnings to the earthquake victims. With just weeks to go before she competes for her country during the Olympics, she could be the next poster girl of China’s athletics.
China has consistently been known for its mastery of table tennis, but historically hasn’t been as internationally competitive on the full-sized courts. Chinese American Michael Chang became hugely popular in Asia after his 1989 French Open win at the age of 17, and even considered coaching China’s tennis team. In terms of personally competing in international competitions, however, he played for the U.S.
China’s women’s doubles teams, including Zheng and her partner Yan Zi have done exceptionally well in international competitions, and with two Grand Slams under their belt, they’re poised to turn their home court advantage this August into an Olympic gold. Despite these strong showings, however, tennis is a sport where singles players dominate.
Many tennis enthusiasts remember a massive list of singles champions, but far fewer are familiar with the top doubles players. It's possible that Zheng's rising star could do for tennis what Yao Ming's success has done for basketball.
Although she lost today to Serena Williams, preventing her from advancing to the finals of Wimbledon, she has a mental edge for the singles competition in Beijing. She won’t have a title or big international win to defend, but knows that she has the skills to compete at the highest levels of international competition. Furthermore, she’ll have the full support of 1.3 billion fans that are behind her 100%.
While it's still unknown if we'll see Zheng Jie or her teammates on the medal stand this August, it's quite possible that millions of Chinese will see her smiling face from giant billboards nationwide.