Two days ago, I submitted an article in "Tennis House" entitled "How the results of the Chinese men's tennis are so poor, there are originally five aspects that hinder the development". What I didn't expect was that the messages in this article were particularly numerous. One of the messages said: Why under the same conditions, the performance of the Chinese women's network can be so much better than the Chinese men's network. For this question, I hope that my article today can give an answer.
In the Miami Masters women's singles qualifier tiebreaker competition, Wang Qiang, Wang Xinyu and Yuan Yue won the main tournament. Together with Zheng Qinwen and Zhang Shuai, they formed the Chinese Legion and will strive to achieve good results at the Miami Masters.
Every year, the four Grand Slam Open, Masters and Tour tournaments are held. We are used to seeing the mighty figure of the Chinese legion. Although after Li Na, China Jinhua was never able to enter the top ten again. But Wang Qiang and Zhang Shuai have both reached the quarter-finals of Grand Slam tournaments. Wang Yafan, Zhang Shuai, Wang Qiang, and Zheng Saisai have all won the championship of the tour competition. Compared with our neighbors in Japan and South Korea, China Jinhua is still in a leading position.
So, why is that? Today, I will introduce you to a Chinese women's tennis veteran. In my opinion. It was her appearance that inspired Li Na to take the road to a Grand Slam title. It is also she who has been selecting outstanding talents in youth tennis for China for many years. Her name is Zheng Jie.
Speaking of Zheng Jie, she and the famous Li Na are teammates of the national team. At the time, she and Li Na were known as the Gemini stars of Chinese tennis.
In 2004, Zheng Jie advanced to the round of 16 at the French Open, becoming the first player in China to reach the round of 16 of a Grand Slam. In this year, Li Ting and Sun Tiantian partnered in women's doubles and created their own magical journey at the Athens Olympic Games. They won the Olympic gold medal in women's tennis doubles. Inspired by Li Ting, Sun Tiantian and Zheng Jie, Li Na began to work hard and train hard. During the year, she won her first tour title. It was also the first tour champion of China's Jinhua.
In 2005, Zheng Jie won her first tour title. In this year, Li Na also did not hesitate to let go, she reached the final of the Estoril Tournament. This made her a Chinese player who reached the final of the Clay Race for the first time.
In 2006, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi surprised us at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year, and they won the Australian Open women's doubles title. In the face of such a good result, the inspired Li Na successfully reversed in the quarterfinals of the German Open and entered the final four of the WTA First Division. Under the chase of Li Na, Zheng Jie won the WTA Estoril and WTA Stockholm two competitions. Wimbledon Li Na entered the top 8, breaking Zheng Jie's record of entering the top 16 of the French Open. This is the first Grand Slam tournament quarterfinals for Chinese players. Also at Wimbledon, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi won the women's doubles championship. This year, Li Na entered the round of 16 at the US Open. Also in this year, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi reached the women's doubles finals. This is the first time that a Chinese team has reached the women's doubles finals.
In 2007, Li Reached the Round of 16 at the Australian Open. On the eve of the start of Wimbledon, the season ended with a broken rib. Coincidentally. This year, Zheng Jie, also plagued by an ankle injury, missed most of the season including Wimbledon and the US Open. This year, Zheng Jie's ranking fell to 163.
In 2008, Li Na, who had returned from injury, made her debut and won her second tour title. At the Beijing Olympics that year, she finished fourth in women's singles, setting a record for the best Chinese tennis player in the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi won the women's doubles bronze medal. This year's Wimbledon, Zheng Jie, who returned from injury, entered the final four of the Grand Slam in a historic way. This is the first time that a Chinese player has reached the final four of a Grand Slam.
In the days to come, Li Na and Zheng Jie encouraged each other and made progress together. They created the miracle of reaching the final four of the Australian Open at the same time in 2010. Although in the Grand Slam arena, Zheng Jie only won two semi-finals and two doubles titles. Compared with Li Na, it is slightly inferior. However, if Zheng Jie has not been catching up and making progress, then how can Li Na always maintain hard training, keep at the peak of sports for a long time, and even win a Grand Slam championship?
After Li Na retired in 2014. Zheng Jie also finished second in women's doubles at the 2015 Australian Open. At present, Zheng Jie has not officially retired. However, since 2015, we have not seen her in tennis matches.
It is worth mentioning that as early as 2009, it founded the Zheng Jie Cup Youth Tennis Tournament. Now this event is still continuing, and it has gone through more than ten years of ups and downs. More and more teenagers are holding fast to their tennis dreams through this tournament.
It is precisely because of Zheng Jie's behind-the-scenes persistence, Li Na's brilliant influence, and the continuous creation of many active tennis players that Chinese women's tennis will occupy a place in the world tennis world. In either respect, Chinese men's tennis is still too far behind.
I sincerely hope that Chinese men's tennis can also catch up and create its own glory.
(Source: Tennis House Author: One Heart Resident)