China will field six women in the first round of the French Open
at Roland Garros, but head coach Jiang Hongwei said it will be no
easy task matching their best performances at the second Grand Slam
tournament of the season.
"Honestly speaking, we don't have any specific target this year,
although we hope to make progress," Jiang told Xinhua News Agency.
"It will add to our burden if we always think about
breakthroughs."
The line-up for China is as follows: Zheng Jie and Yan Zi, the
Australian Open doubles champions, singles players national No.1 Li
Na, Sun Tiantian, Peng Shuai and rising star Yuan Meng, and 2004
Olympics doubles gold medallist Li Ting is set to team up for the
doubles competition with Sun.
"We are so proud to have an opportunity to play in these top
tournaments, in which we could hardly compete some years ago,"
Zheng told China Daily. Zheng's played a 13-3 aggregate on
the WTA Tour since March 22. "The victories against strong
opponents gave us great confidence to play good tennis in big
moments, and now we are up to the challenge."
Since 2003, China's sports authority has been sending players to
international tournaments for exposure and experience, and their
efforts have paid off.
Six Chinese are in the top 100 of the latest WTA rankings. Zheng
is 36th and Li Na 39th; Peng is ranked 64 with Yan at 78; Yuan Meng
is 92nd and Sun 99th.
China ranks sixth among countries in terms of the number of top
100 players, behind Russia (13), the United States (12), France
(nine), Spain (seven) and Italy (seven).
"It didn't happen overnight; it is due to the hard work we have
put in over the past years," Yan said. "The ultimate goal is the Beijing Olympics. We've been making good
preparations for it."
Chinese women have played especially well so far this season,
highlighted by the nation's first Grand Slam title won by Zheng and
Yan at the Australian Open in January.
The country's best hopes at Roland Garros lie with Li Na and
Zheng, both of whom have been prominent in the recent Chinese
uprising in singles.
Winning her first WTA championship in Hobart, Australia in
January, Zheng, 24, followed that up in recent weeks with her
second career Tour singles title on May 7 in Estoril, Portugal,
where she beat Li Na in the historic all-Chinese final. Athens
Olympic gold medallists Li Ting and Sun Tiantian clinched the
event's doubles trophy.
"I had some good games this season, and I hope to play my best
in a grand slam event," Zheng said. "I cannot say I've reached the
same level as the best players in the world, but I am not afraid of
anyone."
Li Na, who was sidelined in the French Open last year because of
a right ankle injury, regained her form after leading the national
side past Indonesia in the country's debut tie at the World Group
of the Federation Cup in April.
She also had the pleasure of equaling China's best performance
at the Tier I event's singles competition by reaching the
semi-finals this month.
The 24-year-old from central China's Hubei Province rallied to beat world No.9
Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 2-6, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/1) in the
quarter-finals of German Open before losing 6-1, 6-0 to eventual
champion Nadia Petrova of Russia.
"I just cannot believe it," Li Na said. "I had never won against
a top 10 player before. It means a lot to me."
In the season's earnings list released last week, three Chinese
players made the top 30.
Zheng ranked 11th with US$352,073, Yan 17th with US$255,794 and
Li Na 30th with US$150,373.
Having improved in dramatic fashion, China's recent boost has
attracted wide attention from other top players.
World No.8 Lindsay Davenport admits she is impressed.
"China has come a long way in producing a bunch of players,"
Davenport, an American, said after witnessing their performances at
the Australian Open.
"All of a sudden they've got five or six legitimate players in
the top hundred who are improving rapidly. I've heard that, because
of the Olympics next time around, they've put a lot of money into
it and are trying to develop these players. It seems to have really
helped.
"Five years ago, I don't remember any players from China. Now
they've got five or six good ones."
American Serena Williams added: "Everyone talks about the
Russians, (but) I've always thought the Chinese have a great slew
of players coming up. Not only are they in the main draws, but
they're actually doing well."
China hasn't come close to winning a Grand Slam singles title
like the new wave of Russians did? -- Anastasia Myskina
(French Open), Maria Sharapova (Wimbledon) and Svetlana Kuznetsova
(US Open) -- but there's still time.
"We still have a long way to go," said Sun Jinfang, China's
tennis chief, "so let's wait and see what happens in the
future."
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency May 29, 2006)