The rise of Chinese women’s tennis
Peng Shuai
Zheng Jie
MILESTONES in the progress of Chinese women’s tennis after Li Na reached the final of the Australian Open on Thursday:
2004
August: Sun Tiantian and Li Ting win China’s first Olympic gold medal in the sport in the women’s doubles at the Athens Games.
2006
January: Zheng Jie and Yan Zi win China’s first Grand Slam title in the women’s doubles at the Australian Open.
June: Li Na becomes the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
August: Li Na becomes the first Chinese player to reach the top 20 in the world rankings.
2008
June: Zheng, a 133rd-ranked wildcard, beats top seed Ana Ivanovic on her way to the semi-finals at Wimbledon, the first Chinese to reach the last four at a Grand Slam.
2010
January: Zheng and Li reach the last four at the Australian Open, the first time China has had two players in the last four at a Grand Slam. Li Na becomes the first Chinese player to reach the women’s top 10.
2011
January: Li comes back from 5-0 down in the first set to beat Kim Clijsters in the final and win the Sydney International, her first “premier” level WTA title.
Peng Shuai beats seventh seed Jelena Jankovic on her way to her first Grand Slam fourth-round appearance at Melbourne Park.
Li beats world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki to become the first Chinese to reach a Grand Slam singles final.(SD-Agencies)
Source:ShenzhenDaily | Editer:王佳