Zheng Jie (born 5 July 1983) is a retired
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player from China. In May 2009, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15.
Zheng is one of the most successful tennis players from China. She won four WTA singles titles –
Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
in 2005,
Estoril,
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
in 2006, and
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
in 2012. She also won 15 doubles titles, eleven of them with
Yan Zi, including
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
in 2006. She won the bronze medal in doubles with Yan Zi at the
2008 Beijing Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
. Her career-high doubles ranking is world No. 3. Zheng reached the singles semifinals at the
2008 Wimbledon Championships
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 122nd edition of the The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon C ...
, where she defeated world No. 1
Ana Ivanovic
Ana Schweinsteiger ( sr, Ана Швајнштајгер / ''Ana Švajnštajger''; born 6 November 1987), professionally known by her birth name Ana Ivanovic (Ана Ивановић / ''Ana Ivanović'', ), is a Serbian former world No. 1 tenn ...
in the process, becoming the first Chinese female player to advance to the semifinals at a Grand Slam. She also advanced to the semifinals at the
2010 Australian Open
The 2010 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place in Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 18 to 31 January. It was the 98th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year.
In the singles competi ...
.
Personal life
Zheng graduated from the Sichuan Sports Academy in June 2000.
At
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
in 2008, she gained recognition when she became the first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, defeating then-world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, en route.
[Zheng Jie Profile at WTA Tour.com: Career Highlights](_blank)
She donated her winnings to the victims of the
2008 Sichuan earthquake in her native province.
Zheng was coached by Jiang Hong Wei, China's national women's team head coach, but she was later coached by her husband
Zhang Yu Zhang may refer to:
Chinese culture, etc.
* Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname
** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname
* Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu
* Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan
* ''Z ...
, who was also her hitting partner. They became close during the period after her severe ankle injury. Zheng is on the advisory staff of Yonex and uses their rackets. She was wearing clothing by Anta and appeared in their advertising campaigns, and she is a Rolex testimonee together with Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic.
Zheng started playing tennis when she was ten, after she had seen her older sister play and thought tennis would be good exercise.
At first, it was just for exercise. Zheng was rather small (at 5', 4.5"), and she and her parents were afraid that she would not have a career in the tennis world. (In fact, she was called "xiao bu dier" by her parents, which translates into something along the lines of "small kid." Her stature was no surprise though, for both her parents were short.) They considered her focusing more on her studies, so that if she did not make it in tennis she would be able to get a different job. However, her foreign coach saw potential in her, and told her parents and her something along the lines of, "There are many people in China who read books, but there are few who are national heroes." After that, her parents agreed to allow her to pursue tennis as a profession.
Nearly a year after the Sichuan earthquake that shook her home province, she visited there and brought with her tennis balls and rackets to distribute to the children there.
Zheng keeps in a small vial pieces of her ankle bone that were removed during the ankle surgery of 2007. She says, she keeps it because it is a part of her, and that it makes her cherish being able to play tennis again and life in general. She says that although it made her world ranking plunge, it also made her grow up a lot.
In 2009, Zheng separated from the Chinese Tennis Association. She talked about how it protected her in times of injury and when she was not playing well, for the CTA would back her completely and give her medical support. Now she manages her own money, which puts her at risk but also means that successes will be more profitable.
In April 2016, Zheng announced on social media that she had given birth to her first child.
Playing style
Zheng's game is characterised by consistency, intellect, quick reflexes and fighting spirit. She is not the strongest player, but makes up for this with her careful thinking of where to place her shots and willingness to change game plans if a strategy is not working. Her shots are of a lot of pace and very well placed, making Zheng an excellent defensive counterpuncher. She has one of the best footwork and court coverage on the tour, which allows her to keep shots in play that would normally be winners; so few shots get by her that after the final match of
Hobart International
The Hobart International is a women's professional tennis tournament held at the Hobart International Tennis Centre in Hobart, Australia. Held since 1994, it forms a part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour and is classed as an Interna ...
in 2005, the finalist
Gisela Dulko described her game as 'The Great Wall of China' because 'she didn't miss one ball'. Also an accomplished doubles player, she is very comfortable when playing at the net. Zheng's best shot is her backhand. Her main weakness is her serve; however she is sometimes able to neutralize her weak serve with her quickness or by serving to the body or to the opponent's weaker groundstroke.
Singles career
2002
In May 2002, she won two successive $25k
ITF singles tournaments, at Shanghai and
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
, right after reaching her first $50k 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.
[ Zheng Jie Profile at WTA Tour.com: Biography](_blank)
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 sets. She also qualified for
Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, but then lost to
Lina Krasnoroutskaya
Lina Vladimirovna Krasnoroutskaya (russian: Лина Владимировна Красноруцкая ; born 29 April 1984) is a retired tennis player. She is a former junior world No. 1 (1999), and in addition, she won the US Open junior titl ...
.
[The WTA Tour Since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2003](_blank)
/ref>
Later in the year, she defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round of a $25k tournament, Alona Bondarenko in the first round of qualifying for Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, and Maria Elena Camerin at another $50k event in July, where she reached the quarterfinal; but it was in August at the Bronx that she won her first $50k title, beating Shenay Perry
Shenay Perry (born July 6, 1984) is a retired tennis player from the U.S. She is the current coach of professional tennis player Kristie Ahn
Kristie Hyerim Ahn (born June 15, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player.
She has won ...
, Jamea Jackson
Jamea Jackson ( ; born September 7, 1986) is an American former Women's Tennis Association (WTA) player and current United States Tennis Association (USTA) coach. She reached a singles ranking of 45 in the world at the end of 2006.
Jackson was b ...
, Akiko Morigami
is a Japanese former tennis player.
She turned professional in 1998. On 15 August 2005, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 41.
Morigami won one singles title in her career, defeating top-seeded Marion Bartoli in 2007 in th ...
, Adriana Serra Zanetti and (in the final) Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, p=mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲɛnkə ; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champion at the 2002 US Open a ...
to this end.
Although Kirilenko avenged this defeat in qualifying at the US Open, Zheng proceeded to qualify for Bali in September with victories over Yan Zi and Yuka Yoshida
Yuka Kaneko (née Yuka Yoshida, ja, 吉田友佳, born 1 April 1976) is a former professional tennis player from Japan.
In her career, she won three doubles titles on the WTA Tour: 1995 in Tokyo, 1996 in Pattaya, and 2005 in Memphis.
Kaneko ...
. She then defeated Flavia Pennetta
Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011. ...
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
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
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 $50k tournaments, falling in three sets to countrywoman Peng Shuai at Changsha (after victories over Sesil Karatantcheva, Camille Pin
Camille Pin (born 25 August 1981) is a French former professional tennis player.
Her 2006 season was rather successful, for a player ranked lower than the top 100 in the WTA Tour. After a second-round loss to Serena Williams in the Australian Op ...
and Aiko Nakamura
(born 28 December 1983), is a Japanese former professional tennis player. In July 2008, she was the second highest WTA-ranked Japanese singles tennis player, at No. 107, after Ai Sugiyama.
Nakamura was born in Tennōji-ku, Osaka. Like her ro ...
) and, also in three sets, to the same Sesil Karatantcheva (after beating Sun Tiantian
Sun Tiantian (; ; born 12 October 1981) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in women's doubles along with her partner Li Ting.
Sun reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...
in the semifinal) at Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
. Consequently, Zheng broke into the world top 100, with 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 2),[The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2004](_blank)
/ref> and the second round at Miami and Vienna (where she beat Lisa Raymond). 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
Émilie Loit (; born 9 June 1979) is a retired tennis player from France.
Besides her three career singles titles, all on clay, included Estoril and Casablanca both in 2004, and Acapulco in 2007, she won 16 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Her hi ...
, and Tathiana Garbin
Tathiana Garbin (; born 30 June 1977) is an Italian retired tennis player. She was best known for her surprise defeat of the defending champion and the reigning world No. 1, Justine Henin, in the second round of the 2004 French Open. The winne ...
in succession to reach the fourth round, where she lost to Paola Suárez. She was the first Chinese woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam event.
At the Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
in Athens, she lost her first-round match to Ai Sugiyama. In September, she won a $25k tournament at Beijing, defeating Yan Zi in the semifinal and Li Na in the final. She later made it to the finals in a $50k tournament in Shenzhen, before losing to fellow countrywomen Peng Shuai. Zheng ended the year world-ranked 67.
2005
Zheng started 2005 by capturing her first WTA Tour singles title at Hobart, after wins over Mariana Díaz Oliva, Shinobu Asagoe
is a Japanese former tennis player. She turned professional in 1997, and retired in 2006.
Career
2000 was the first year in which she finished in the WTA top 100 (No. 72). At the US Open that year, she defeated Patty Schnyder, a top-50 playe ...
, Klára Koukalová, Li Na and Gisela Dulko.[The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng 2005 tournament activity](_blank)
/ref>
She qualified for Dubai with wins over Sandra Kleinová
Sandra Kleinová (born 8 May 1978) is a retired Czech tennis player.
Born in Prague, Kleinová reached the Fed Cup final in Nagoya in 1995. She was part of the Czech Republic Fed Cup team in 1997.
Her highest WTA singles ranking is 41st, which ...
, Maria Elena Camerin and Virginia Ruano Pascual, and went on to defeat Anabel Medina Garrigues
Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player.
As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
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 her second WTA final at Rabat, Morocco in May, losing to Nuria Llagostera Vives after wins over Catalina Castaño
Catalina Castaño Álvarez (; born 7 July 1979) is a retired Colombian professional tennis player. Her highest singles ranking of 35 she achieved in 2006.
In her career, she won ten titles on the ITF Circuit, six in singles, as well as one ...
, Maureen Drake and Tathiana Garbin, followed by a walkover 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. In August, she reached the second round at Los Angeles by again beating Shinobu Asagoe
is a Japanese former tennis player. She turned professional in 1997, and retired in 2006.
Career
2000 was the first year in which she finished in the WTA top 100 (No. 72). At the US Open that year, she defeated Patty Schnyder, a top-50 playe ...
, the Canadian Open quarterfinal (with wins over María Emilia Salerni and Ai Sugiyama), and another quarterfinal at New Haven (after defeating Katarina Srebotnik and Émilie Loit
Émilie Loit (; born 9 June 1979) is a retired tennis player from France.
Besides her three career singles titles, all on clay, included Estoril and Casablanca both in 2004, and Acapulco in 2007, she won 16 doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Her hi ...
in qualifying, and Jamea Jackson
Jamea Jackson ( ; born September 7, 1986) is an American former Women's Tennis Association (WTA) player and current United States Tennis Association (USTA) coach. She reached a singles ranking of 45 in the world at the end of 2006.
Jackson was b ...
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 first-round wins in September over María Vento-Kabchi
María Alejandra Vento-Kabchi (born 24 May 1974) is a former female tennis player from Venezuela. In July 2004, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 26. She won four WTA titles in doubles.
Vento-Kabchi reached the fourth roun ...
(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: Two Grand Slam titles in doubles
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 where she reached the quarterfinals with wins over Nathalie Dechy and Anna-Lena Grönefeld
Anna-Lena Grönefeld (also spelled Groenefeld; born 4 June 1985) is a German former professional tennis player.
Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2019, she won one singles title on the WTA Tour, at the 2006 Mexican Open, and reached t ...
before falling to Tatiana Golovin
Tatiana Golovin ( rus, Татья́на Григóрьевна Головина́, r=Tatyana Grigoryevna Golovina; born 25 January 1988) is a Russian-born French professional tennis player. She won the 2004 French Open mixed-doubles event, partn ...
.[The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2006](_blank)
/ref>
Zheng's newfound 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 Li Na who was forced to retire at one set each. In Strasbourg, Zheng displayed yet reached the quarterfinals where she lost to second-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidišová.
In August, Zheng won the tournament in Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
without dropping a set. In the final, she defeated the top-seed and former world No. 2, Anastasia Myskina. A knee injury hampered Zheng's singles progress towards the end of 2006. Her US Open ended in a second round defeat by Anastasia 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
The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
in Doha. After a surprising first-round loss in the team event, she went into the singles competition as the second seed. She ended up winning the gold medal, with victories over Shikha Uberoi, Chan Yung-jan, Aiko Nakamura, and Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in ...
. She also took gold in doubles with partner Yan Zi, defeating Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung
Chuang Chia-jung (; ; born 10 January 1985) is a retired Taiwanese tennis player.
In her career, she won 22 doubles titles on the WTA Tour and three doubles titles on tournaments of the WTA Challenger Tour, as well as ten singles titles and ...
of Taiwan. 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 before losing to eventual champion Anna Chakvetadze.
At the Australian Open, Zheng put in an extremely disappointing performance, losing to then 97th ranked Julia Schruff of Germany, after holding match point on more than one occasion.[The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2007](_blank)
/ref> In doubles, her title defense with Yan Zi ended in the semifinals with a defeat by Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung – the same partnership which they managed to defeat in the final of the Doha Asian Games just one month previously.
Zheng competed in 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, and also lost in the first round in the doubles portion.
The ankle injury sustained at the French Open ruled her out of Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
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: Wimbledon semifinal
Zheng's return to the tour was successful; in singles, she won two qualifying matches in Gold Coast before losing to Alisa Kleybanova.[The WTA Tour since 1996: Jie Zheng tournament activity in 2008](_blank)
/ref> In doubles, she and Yan Zi reached the final, only to lose 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 made it to the seminfinals, beating the Williams sisters along the way, before losing to the 12th seeds Peer and Azarenka.
Zheng qualified for the main draw of the French Open, and then reached the third round before losing to Dinara Safina.
Her breakthrough in women's tennis occurred at Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
. Despite only being ranked world No. 133, Zheng was given a wildcard into the main draw. In the third round, she defeated the first seed and world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic. This was her first victory against a top-10 player. Zheng then beat Ágnes Szávay
Ágnes Szávay ( hu, Szávay Ágnes, ; born 29 December 1988) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. The 2007 WTA Newcomer of the Year achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 13 in April 2008.
Personal life
Szávay was bor ...
of Hungary, the 15th seed, in the fourth round, and 18th-seeded Nicole Vaidišová in the quarterfinals. This made Zheng the first Chinese women's tennis player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. She also became the first wildcard 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
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
. Zheng's strong Wimbledon performance elevated her ranking from world No. 133 to No. 40.
She donated her prize money from the tournament and spent time helping the victims and post-reconstruction effort of the 12 May earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people and left five to ten million homeless in her home province Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
. She did the same with her French Open prize money earlier in the year.
In August 2008, Zheng competed for China in both singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
and doubles at the Beijing Olympics. In the singles portion, Zheng made it to the third round before losing 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 for a spot in the gold medal final, they won the bronze medal match against the Ukrainian sisters team of Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko
Kateryna Volodymyrivna Volodko (née Bondarenko; uk, Катерина Володимирівна Бондаренко; born 8 August 1986) is a tennis player from Ukraine. She was the doubles champion in 2008 at the Australian Open, partnering ...
. This was the second Olympics tennis medal ever won by China.
After the Olympics, Zheng entered the US Open. She advanced to the third round before losing a tight match to second-seeded Jelena Janković.
She then 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.
Ranked world No. 30, Zheng returned in September to Beijing for the China Open Tier-II tournament. She advanced to the semifinals before losing to world No. 7 and fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova. Based on her strong China Open performance, Zheng became Asia's highest ranked women's singles player at world No. 26, her highest to-date career WTA singles ranking. Later, on 20 October, she reached world No. 23.
In March 2009, Zheng was awarded the WTA Tour "Comeback of the Year" award for 2008, as she rebounded from an injury-marred 2007.
2009
In January at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Zheng was seeded 22nd in women's singles. She advanced to the round of 16 and faced eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. Zheng trailed 1–4 in the opening set, but was forced to retire with a left wrist injury after hitting the court while reaching for a ball. This was the furthest that she progressed at women's singles at this tournament in her career.
In the doubles event, she and her partner Yan Zi were eliminated in the third round, by Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez.
Zheng returned to at the Dubai Championships, and made it to the third round before losing to world No. 1, Serena Williams. She and her partner, Yan Zi, lost in the first round in doubles to the Bondarenko sisters. Seeded fourth at the Monterrey Open
The Monterrey Open is a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is part of the 250 series on the WTA Tour. From 2009 to 2013, the tournament wa ...
, she made it to the semifinals before losing to No. 2 seed Marion Bartoli. After this result, she created her highest world ranking of No. 17 at that time. Zheng was seeded 17th at the Sony Ericsson Open
The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
. She advanced to the round of 16 before losing to Serena Williams in three sets. Zheng's strong performance helped her to reach world No. 16, the highest ranking ever by a Chinese tennis player (Li Na had also reached world No. 16 in 2007).
At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia
The Italian Open ( it, Internazionali d'Italia; literally: ''Italy's Internationals''), originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournament ...
, Zheng lost to world No. 1, Dinara Safina, in three sets. At the Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open:
* Madrid Open (golf)
The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
, Zheng fell to Amélie Mauresmo in the second round. Despite the loss, on 18 May, Zheng became the highest-ranked Chinese player in history, at No. 15. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Zheng (seeded 15th) progressed to the second round before losing Michelle Larcher de Brito in straight sets. At the Birmingham Classic, the first tournament on grass, Zheng was the top seed but lost to the eventual champion Magdaléna Rybáriková in the third round. Next at the Eastbourne International. Zheng advanced to the second round before losing to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak.
Seeded 16th at the Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, Zheng was upset in the second round by Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets. As she was a semifinalist the previous year, her ranking fell to world No. 24. Zheng's next tournament was the LA Championships as part of her US Open Series campaign. She advanced to the fourth round before losing to 13th seeded Samantha Stosur in three sets. At the Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Zheng advanced to the third round before losing to Lucie Šafářová
Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles.
She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 ...
. At the US Open, Zheng, who was seeded 21, advanced to the third round before losing in straight sets to the No. 13 seed, Nadia Petrova. Zheng ended the year with a 28–22 singles record and she finished the year ranked world No. 36.
2010: Australian Open semifinal
Zheng began her season at the Hobart International, where she made it to the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual tournament champion Alona Bondarenko. Zheng was unseeded at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, the first Grand Slam of the year. After three set wins over Peng Shuai, María José Martínez Sánchez and Marion Bartoli, as well as a straights sets fourth-round win over Alona Bondarenko, Zheng made Australian open history by becoming the first Chinese player to reach an Australian Open semifinal when she took out unseeded Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal match, she lost to former world No. 1 and 2004 champion, Justine Henin. Zheng next competed at the Dubai Championships as the 16th seed, but was upset in the first round by Alicia Molik
Alicia Molik (born 27 January 1981) is an Australian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 6.
Molik won a bronze medal in singles for Australi ...
in three sets. Next competing at the first-ever Malaysian Open, Zheng reached the second round as the third seed, where she was defeated by Chang Kai-chen. However, Zheng won the doubles title at the event with Chan Yung-jan, defeating Anastasia
Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the most ...
and Arina Rodionova in a championship tie-break.
Zheng next competed at the Indian Wells Open
The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
, where she was seeded 18th. She advanced to the quarterfinals before losing to No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki. In doubles, Zheng and Chan reached the semifinalst. At the Sony Ericsson Open
The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, Zheng lost in her second-round match to Virginie Razzano. She and doubles partner Chan reached the semifinals. Zheng was seeded fifth at the Warsaw Open
The Warsaw Open, formerly the J&S Cup, was a women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Warsaw, Poland. Held since 1995, the tournament was played on outdoor clay courts. The event returned for two years to the WTA Tour in 2009 after a ...
, where she reached the final losing to the defending champion, Alexandra Dulgheru. She also advanced to the semifinals of the doubles event of the tournament.
At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Zheng was seeded 26th and reached the second round before losing to Anastasia Pivovarova
Anastasia Olegovna Pivovarova (russian: Анастасия Олеговна Пивоварова, born 16 June 1990) is a former professional tennis player from Russia. She reached a career-high ranking of 93, in May 2011.
During a successful j ...
. Zheng began her grass-court season at Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, where she was unseeded. She lost in the second round to British wildcard Elena Baltacha. At Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, she was the 23rd seed and lost in the second round to Petra Kvitová, who herself made it to the semifinals.
At the Stanford Classic
The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is the ol ...
, Zheng she was defeated by Maria Sharapova in the first round. In doubles, she reached the final and lost in close three sets to Liezel Huber and Lindsay Davenport. At her next tournament in San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, Zheng reached the second round before losing to Daniela Hantuchová. In consolation, Zheng partnered with Maria Kirilenko to win her second doubles title of the year, defeating second seeded Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs
Rennae Stubbs (born 26 March 1971) is an Australian tennis coach, television commentator, and former professional player. She is the host of The Power Hour on Amazon Prime Video Sports Talk. She worked at the Seven Network between 2011 and 201 ...
in the final. Her next singles tournament was the Western & Southern Open
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, where Zheng lost to the 11th-seed Flavia Pennetta in the first round. In doubles, Jie teamed with Chan Yung-jan and made it to the quarterfinals. Next playing at the Rogers Cup
The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
, Zheng reached the quarterfinals before losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova, in straight sets.
She next competed at the US Open in singles and doubles. In singles
Singles are people not in a committed relationship.
Singles may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series
* ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe
* ''Singles'' ...
, Zheng was the 21st seed. However, she was upset in the second round by a resurgent Ana Ivanovic. In doubles, she and Chan reached the semifinals before losing to Nadia Petrova and Liezel Huber. Following the tournament, Zheng withdrew from all scheduled tournaments citing a wrist injury, which kept her off of the tour until February 2011.
2011
Zheng was scheduled to compete at the Hong Kong Classic exhibition tournament in Team Asia-Pacific alongside Li Na and Mark Philippoussis
Mark Anthony Philippoussis ( ; born 7 November 1976) is an Australian former professional tennis player of Greek and Italian descent. Philippoussis' greatest achievements are winning two Davis Cup titles with Australia in 1999 and 2003, winni ...
, as well as competing as the third seed at the Hobart International. Zheng hadn't rehabilitated from her wrist injury sufficiently, and withdrew from both tournaments, as well as the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, where she was a semifinalist in 2010.
Jie made a return to the tour at the Pattaya Open in Thailand. She was seeded seventh but was defeated by Akgul Amanmuradova in the first round, in two sets.
Zheng next competed at the Dubai Championships. In the first round, she defeated Kristina Barrois
Kristina Barrois (born 30 September 1981) is a retired German tennis player.
Barrois won 15 singles and 16 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. On 9 May 2011, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 57. On 20 February 20 ...
in three sets. In the second, she was defeated by Patty Schnyder. At the Qatar Open, Zheng lost to Flavia Pennetta in straight sets. Zheng next played at the Indian Wells Open
The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
, where she was a quarterfinalist in 2010. She continued her string of losses, falling 3–6, 2–6 to Sofia Arvidsson.
At Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, she won a tough three-setter over Sorana Cîrstea. Zheng lost to her next opponent, the fourth seed and world No. 4 Samantha Stosur, 2–6, 1–6. Her next event was the Family Circle Cup
The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
in Charleston. In the first round, Zheng defeated qualifier Monica Puig in a match lasting over three hours. In the next round, she faced seeded Yanina Wickmayer for the first time, losing 4–6, 0–6.
Zheng then competed at the Estoril Open as the seventh seed. Her first-round opponent was Italian Romina Oprandi
Romina Sarina Oprandi (born 29 March 1986) is a retired tennis player. She has dual Swiss-Italian citizenship and represented Italy from her professional debut in 2005 until January 2012, when she joined the Swiss tennis federation.
She has wo ...
, who won the match in straight sets.
Zheng then played in a qualification tournament for the first time since 2008 at the Italian Open Italian Open may refer to:
*Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year.
*Italian Open (golf)
The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It ...
, as the second seed. She lost in the second round of qualifying to Anastasia Rodionova 6–3, 2–6, 5–7. However, Zheng reached the main draw as a lucky loser
A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw, usually when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness, injury ...
, but lost to the wildcard Alberta Brianti in two sets. Next playing in Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
, Zheng lost to Ayumi Morita in the first round in three sets; after losing her points from reaching the finals of Warsaw from the previous year, Zheng dropped from world No. 47 to No. 80, her lowest ranking since 2008.
At French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, she defeated Sandra Záhlavová
Sandra Záhlavová (born 10 October 1985) is a Czech former tennis player.
Záhlavová won 12 singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 21 June 2010, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 78. On 12 ...
in the first round. In the second round Zheng lost to ninth-seeded Petra Kvitová. She partnered Peng Shuai in doubles, losing in the second round.
Zheng then participated in three grass-court tournaments. Firstly at Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, she lost to Yaroslava Shvedova in a tight first round contest. Zheng then played at Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, qualifying for the main draw by beating Ayumi Morita, Edina Gallovits-Hall
Klaudia Edina Gallovits-Hall (née Gallovits; born December 10, 1984) is a Romanian-born American tennis player. Her career-high ranking of No. 54 she achieved on April 28, 2008. She represented Romania until April 2015, then started playing fo ...
, and finally Melanie Oudin
Melanie Jennings Oudin (born September 23, 1991) is an American former professional tennis player. The former world junior No. 2 was a member of the American Fed Cup team from 2009 to 2011 and the winner of the 2011 US Open mixed-doubles title ...
. She lost in the first round of the main draw, 4–6, 4–6, to Daniela Hantuchová. At Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, Zheng reached the second round for the third consecutive year, beating Zuzana Ondrášková, before losing in disappointing fashion to Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi, 3–6, 1–6. In doubles, Zheng and Peng reached the quarterfinals, losing a tight three-set match to eventual champions Květa Peschke
Květoslava Peschke (née Hrdličková; born 9 July 1975) is a Czech retired professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles.
She reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 in November 2005, winning one WTA singles title ...
and Katarina Srebotnik.
Zheng began her campaign at the US Open Series at the Washington Open, however she was beaten in the first round by Jill Craybas
Jill N. Craybas (born July 4, 1974) is an American former professional tennis player.
From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws; her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon Championship ...
in three sets. Zheng next made the third round of the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego, beating Mirjana Lučić Mirjana (; ) is a Slavic feminine given name meaning ′''mir''′ ("peace, world, prestige, area, space"). The name is widespread throughout Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
Mirjana is possibly a form of Miriam a ...
in three sets in the first round, and seeded Roberta Vinci 6–4, 6–2 in the second. In the third, she lost to Daniela Hantuchová. Zheng next entered the qualification tournament for the Rogers Cup
The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
. In the first qualification round, she defeated Stéphanie Foretz Gacon in a close three-setter. In the next qualification round, Zheng faced Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm
is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She reached the semifinals of the 1994 Australian Open, the 1995 French Open and the 1996 Wimbledon Championships, and won the Japan Open a record four times. She reached a career-high ranking ...
for the first time, and by winning that match in three sets, she qualified for the main draw. In the first round of the main draw, Zheng waltzed past fellow qualifier Alberta Brianti
Alberta Brianti (born 5 April 1980) is a former professional tennis player from Italy.
On 13 June 2011, Brianti achieved her career-high singles ranking of 55. On 13 February 2012, she peaked at No. 68 in the doubles rankings.
She won one sin ...
6–2, 6–1, setting up a second-round match with second seed Kim Clijsters. In the second round, she lost the first set 3–6, however, she proceeded to the third round because Clijsters retired at 2–1 down in the second set due to an abdominal injury. In the third round, Zheng contested a close match with Serena Williams, but eventually lost in three sets. After a strong performance, Zheng leaped from world No. 82 to No. 65.
Following on from Toronto, Zheng entered the qualification tournament for the Western & Southern Open
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
in Cincinnati; as the 24th seed, Zheng overcame CoCo Vandeweghe in the first qualification round, setting up a match with twelfth seed Johanna Larsson, who she overwhelmed 6–1, 6–2 to qualify for the main draw. In the first round she faced Julia Görges
Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...
, and won that match 6–2, 1–6, 6–4. In the second round, she lost to Jelena Janković in three sets. At the US Open, Zheng overcame Vitalia Diatchenko in the first round before losing in three sets to Andrea Petkovic.
Zheng played a tournament in her native China for the first time in two years at the Guangzhou International Open, where she was unseeded. She defeated sixth seeded Alberta Brianti, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn and fourth seeded Petra Martić
Petra Martić (; born 19 January 1991) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14, achieved in January 2020. Martić has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and one doubles tou ...
before losing to Magdaléna Rybáriková in the semifinals. She played next at the Pan Pacific Open in Japan, where she fell to qualifier CoCo Vandeweghe after a tough three-setter in the first round.
Zheng received a wildcard into the China Open. In the first round she beat Alberta Brianti, although Brianti was leading 4–0 in the deciding set. In the second round she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska 1–6, 4–6.
Zheng played her final event of the season at the Osaka Open. She amazingly won her first match versus Zuzana Kučová 6–1, 6–1 and after that she beat fifth-seeded Australian Jarmila Gajdošová to reach the quarterfinals, which had to be postponed because of rain. After a one-day delay, Zheng beat Petra Cetkovská 0–6, 7–5, 6–3. Zheng later lost to top-seeded Samantha Stosur in the semifinals, in three sets. By virtue of this performance, Zheng entered the top 50, ending the season ranked world No. 48.
Zheng then played an ITF tournament in Taipei as the top seed, but lost in the second round to Yaraslava Shvedova, 2–6, 2–6.
2012
At the beginning of the 2012 season, Zheng switched her racquet to the new Yonex EZONE Xi 98 model.
She began the season by winning the Auckland Open, her first WTA singles title since 2006. The unseeded Zheng defeated Ayumi Morita in the first round before upsetting eighth seed Monica Niculescu
Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as high as 28 in singles and 11 in doubles. Niculescu has won several titles: three singles and ten doubles ...
in the second, 6–0, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Zheng beat Lucie Hradecká
Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in ...
6–2, 6–3, and third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 in the semifinals. In the final, Zheng defeated fourth seed Flavia Pennetta as the Italian retired due to injury in the third set.
She was scheduled to play at the Hobart International
The Hobart International is a women's professional tennis tournament held at the Hobart International Tennis Centre in Hobart, Australia. Held since 1994, it forms a part of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour and is classed as an Interna ...
, but withdrew due to a right thigh injury. At the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Zheng reached the fourth round, where she was beaten by Sara Errani, with straight sets wins over Madison Keys, Roberta Vinci and top-10 ranked Marion Bartoli.
She had a disappointing run of results following the Australian Open, failing to win a match until the Indian Wells Open
The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
where she handily defeated Michaëlla Krajicek
Michaëlla Krajicek ( cz, Michaela Krajíčková; born 9 January 1989) is a Dutch former tennis player. She won three singles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one WTA 125 tournaments, WTA 125 doubles title, and 14 singles and ...
having received a first-round bye. In the third round, Zheng lost to Li Na 1–6, 3–6. Zheng then reached the third round at the Miami Open, beating Hradecká and Angelique Kerber in straight sets before losing to Dominika Cibulková, 2–6, 0–6.
The clay-court season she began as the fifth seed in Estoril. In the first round, she defeated Ekaterina Makarova 6–3, 6–1, but lost in the second to Galina Voskoboeva. Zheng then lost in the first round of Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
and Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
to Maria Kirilenko, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Rus
Arantxa Rus (; born 13 December 1990) is a Dutch tennis player. In 2008, she won the girl's singles title at the 2008 Australian Open – Girls' singles, Australian Open, defeating Jessica Moore (tennis), Jessica Moore from Australia in the final ...
, respectively. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Zheng was seeded 31st, and lost in the second round to Aleksandra Wozniak.
She chose to begin the grass-court season in Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, however as she registered late she was forced to qualify for the main draw, which she did by beating both Natalie Grandin and Sandra Zaniewska
Sandra Zaniewska (born 3 January 1992) is a Polish tennis coach and former professional player.
In her career, she won ten singles tournaments as well as a further seven in doubles on the ITF Circuit, and was the runner-up of the 2009 Australi ...
. Zheng won three matches to reach the quarter-finals, where she defeated fourth-seeded Roberta Vinci in a three set match hampered by multiple rain delays. In the semifinals Zheng lost to Jelena Janković in three sets.
At Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, Zheng entered both ladies' singles (seeded 25th) and ladies' doubles, partnering with compatriot Peng Shuai (unseeded). In the first round singles, she defeated unseeded Canadian Stéphanie Dubois. In round two, Zheng avenged her French Open defeat by Wozniak, another unseeded Canadian, in straight sets. In the third round, Zheng lost 7–6, 2–6, 7–9 to Serena Williams who hit a Wimbledon record of 23 aces. In the first-round doubles, Zheng and Peng lost to Marina Erakovic and Tamarine Tanasugarn, 2–6, 2–6.
At the US Open, Zheng lost in the third round to world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, 0–6, 1–6. In doubles, Zheng decided to partner with Katarina Srebotnik, however they lost in the first round.
Following the US Open, Zheng competed in the Asian swing. Zheng was the second seed in Guangzhou
Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, but lost in the second round to Laura Robson. In Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, Zheng was crushed by Dominika Cibulková 6–0, 6–3 in the second round, while in Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
Zheng was upset in the first round by Lara Arruabarrena Vecino. In Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
Zheng was seeded second, but lost to Pauline Parmentier in the second round.
Zheng qualified for the Tournament of Champions as a result of the withdrawal of Venus Williams. In the round-robin section of the tournament, Zheng was grouped with Nadia Petrova, Maria Kirilenko and Tsvetana Pironkova. Zheng lost her matches to Petrova and Pironkova, and retired while down in the first set against Sofia Arvidsson, Kirilenko's replacement. Zheng ended the year ranked No. 26.
2013
Her year began in Auckland in a bid to defend her title at Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
. Despite being seeded fourth, Zheng lost in the first round in straight sets to Jamie Hampton
Jamie Lee Hampton (born January 8, 1990) is a former American professional tennis player. In July 2013, she reached her highest singles ranking of world No. 24.
Early life
Hampton was born in Frankfurt, West Germany, because her father, a career ...
. Zheng rebounded in Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
by defeating sixth-seeded Sam Stosur in the first round, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4. In the second round, she lost to Madison Keys, a qualifier ranked 135, 0–6, 4–6. At the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Zheng reached the third round after another win over Stosur, but she then lost in three sets to Germany's Julia Görges
Julia Görges (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. A former top-ten singles player, she was ranked as high as No. 9 in the world on 20 August 2018, and was ranked inside the top 15 in doubles, peaking at world No ...
.
Following the Australian Open, Zheng struggled with poor results, losing early in Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, Indian Wells and Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, resulting in her falling from the top 50. Zheng began the clay-court season with early losses in Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
and Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Li Na respectively. Zheng's fortunes changed at the Brussels Open
The Brussels Open, unofficially also known as ''Open de Bruxelles'', was a professional women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Brussels, Belgium. It was first held in 2011, replacing the Warsaw Open. The 2013 edition was held May 20 ...
, where she defeated Caroline Wozniacki before losing in the quarterfinals to Romina Oprandi
Romina Sarina Oprandi (born 29 March 1986) is a retired tennis player. She has dual Swiss-Italian citizenship and represented Italy from her professional debut in 2005 until January 2012, when she joined the Swiss tennis federation.
She has wo ...
. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Zheng reached the third round for the first time since 2008, but lost to Maria Sharapova in straight sets.
Zheng did not play any warm-up events during the grass-court season, instead electing to play her first match on the surface at Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
, where she lost in the first round to Caroline Garcia. This was Zheng's first loss in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since 2007.
At the US Open, in the second round, Zheng played in what would become one of the longest US Open women's matches in history lasting more than three hours. She wore down Venus Williams with powerful returns and impressive endurance, eventually winning a third-set tiebreaker to take the match, but she then lost to Carla Suárez Navarro in the third round.
2014
Zheng started the year by losing early in Shenzhen
Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
and Hobart
Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
. However, she reached the third round at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, defeating 12th-seeded Roberta Vinci and Madison Keys before losing to Casey Dellacqua. This was then followed by a string of poor results, culminating in a first-round loss to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova at the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
.
Zheng's fortunes improved during the grass-court season. Despite losing in the first round at Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, Zheng then reached of the final of the Rosmalen Open where she was defeated by CoCo Vandeweghe. Zheng defeated Annika Beck in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
but was then beaten by 11th seed Ana Ivanovic.
She played just five tournaments after Wimbledon, highlighted by a first-round loss to Peng Shuai at the US Open and a quarterfinal run in Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
.
2015: Australian Open doubles final and retirement
Zheng played just one singles match in 2015, a first-round loss at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
to Chang Kai-chen. However, at the same tournament, she and her partner Chan Yung-jan reached the finals of the women's doubles event, where they were defeated by Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Šafářová in straight sets. Zheng played six further doubles events in 2015, losing in the third round of the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, the final at Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
and the first round at Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
.
Zheng has not participated in any professional tennis matches since the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and, as a result, no longer holds a professional ranking in singles or doubles.
Career statistics
Grand Slam performance timelines
Singles
Doubles
Mixed doubles
Significant finals
Grand Slam tournaments
Doubles: 3 (2 titles, 1 runner-up)
Premier Mandatory/Premier 5 tournaments
Doubles: 5 (3 titles, 2 runner-ups)
Olympic finals
Doubles: 1 (bronze medal)
See also
* Chinese tennis players
* Tennis in China
Tennis in China is a rapidly growing sport that has received much private and public support, and has today become firmly entrenched in the Chinese as one of the most popular. Tennis is now the third-most popular sport on television in China, b ...
References
External links
*
*
*
*
Zheng Jie's blog
article from Time Magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zheng, Jie
1983 births
Asian Games bronze medalists for China
Asian Games gold medalists for China
Asian Games medalists in tennis
Asian Games silver medalists for China
Australian Open (tennis) champions
Chinese female tennis players
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles
Living people
Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games
Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games
Olympic bronze medalists for China
Olympic medalists in tennis
Olympic tennis players of China
Sportspeople from Chengdu
Tennis players from Sichuan
Tennis players at the 2002 Asian Games
Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2006 Asian Games
Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2014 Asian Games
Wimbledon champions