With Li Na winning her two singles hosts China overwhelmed
two-time title-holders Germany 4-1 here on Sunday qualifying for
the World Group of the Fed Cup tennis tournament for the first
time.
China first entered the world's premier tennis team event in1981
and registered their historical result after a hiatus of 25
years.
Chinese captain Jiang Hongwei hailed the four players but was
quick to add, "There's are still a lot of areas for the Chinese
team to improve on if we want to get better results in the future.
Before the World Group matches in April, 2007 I want to correct the
mistakes of some players."
Jiang said the only match China lost was because Sun Tiantian
was too tired and not confident enough.
According to Barbara Rittner, the Germany team captain China had
a very good team. "This is a great opportunity for our young
players to compete with the Chinese. Our players learned a lot from
these matches," she said. The Chinese people were good hosts and
very friendly to everyone, she added. "I hope the Chinese team will
have good luck in next year's World Group matches," was her parting
comment.??
The first reversed singles on Sunday between Li Na and Kathrin
Woerle seemed to be an easy task for Li before it got underway. But
Li, the quarter-finalist in this year's Wimbledon Championships,
struggled to win to ensure China's qualification.
Against world No. 22 Li, Woerle ranked 154th in the world,
caused lots of problems to prevent Li from getting the expected
simple victory. The result was 7-5, 7-5.
After Li's win the last two matches became a show for the
Chinese audience. Yet, Sun Tiantian, former Athens Olympic Champion
in the women's doubles, was not at her best and lost to Tatiana
Malek 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
The last match was between Wimbledon champions Zheng Jie/Yan Zi
and Kristina Borrois/Jasmin Woehr. The Chinese showed no mercy and
quickly sealed the match 6-3 and 6-4 much to the enjoyment of their
fans.
On Saturday, Li defeated Barrois 6-3, 6-4 while Zheng Jie
trounced Woerle 6-4, 7-5 in the first two singles. Li Na won two
matches to become the heroine of the Chinese victory.
With this triumph safely tucked away China will make their debut
in the 2007 Fed Cup World Group.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2006)