China's tennis chief Sun Jinfang has conceded the country's
women's players are too "feeble" to be a major force on the WTA
Tour.
The governor's words came after a disappointing end to the
year's last Grand Slam tournament, with no team member advancing
beyond the second round of either singles or doubles at the US
Open.
"Chinese tennis is very feeble overall," Sun, the Administrative
Center of Tennis director, told reporters in New York.
"They have made some improvements over the past years and had
some highlights, but they are not a major force on the tour, and
they cannot withstand the elements."
China's singles player Li Na and Grand Slam doubles title winner
Zheng Jie were sidelined with injuries while the rest of the team
failed to deliver any major breakthroughs.
Much hype had accompanied Zheng's doubles partner Yan Zi into
the US Open after she made a semifinal in the tier-one Rogers Cup
event.
But her luck ran out at the hands of Russian Ekaterina Bychkova,
who beat the Chinese star 6-2, 6-4 in the first round.
Peng fared no better, losing to Italian veteran Flavia Pennetta
1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
"It was a very tough tournament for us," Sun said.
"Li and Zheng are the team's backbone -- we are a different team
playing without them. As long as they stay healthy, I am sure we
are able to play better tennis than what we did at the US
Open."
Last year marked a number of career highlights for many of the
players as they scaled the rankings and won Grand Slam titles on
the way up.
But 2007 has been a letdown, with injuries and a general loss of
form plaguing the camp.
The 25-year-old Li injured a rib at a Wimbledon warm-up
tournament and missed the Grand Slam as well as a number of
hard-court tournaments in North America.
Meanwhile, Zheng has been recovering slowly after surgery on her
right ankle in Beijing last month. Zheng's injury has also hampered
Yan as the duo, winners of the Australian Open and Wimbledon
doubles last year, slipped to No 13 and 15 from three and four in
the doubles rankings.
Sun and her coaching board believe the team should not only
focus on Li and Zheng but develop its overall strength after the US
Open.
"We have to make sure everybody can play in both singles and
doubles events," said the team's head coach Jiang Hongwei.
"It is very risky to just put all pressure on Li and Zheng.
"You have to be an all-round team if you want to make a splash
at the Beijing Games next year, and definitely, we have a lot of
work to do after the US Open."
Sun said Russia was a good example for China to follow.
"They have a number of players in the top 30 -- it's a huge
advantage," she said. "So they have what it takes to deal with
injuries, but for us, the situation would be in a mess if the top
player can not play -- we need to learn from them."
(China Daily September 5, 2007)