This week Jiajia takes you into the world of Yan Zi, the two-time tennis Grand Slam women's doubles champion who has rarely been interviewed in recent years, and listen to her insights into her tennis life.
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Meet Zheng Jie - the one I met on the first day of playing
As the first pair of tennis Grand Slam champions in Chinese history, Zheng Jie/Yan Zi's name is familiar. As a relatively independent sports project, the two Sichuan girls have lived and trained together for 20 years, and I believe that it is not common in the international tennis world, and the tacit understanding has its own "innate advantage". Today, let's first listen to Yan Zi talk about the story between the two people.
Zheng Jie/Yan Zi combination at the Beijing Olympic Games
"I started to play tennis when I was less than 6 years old, and on the first day I went to learn ball, I saw a little friend who was already there, small, running very fast, that is, Zheng Jie. She was a year and a half older than me, and she had only been practicing for a few months when I first went. Because we belonged to the same group and were relatively close in age, we were arranged in the same room at the beginning, which was N years, until Zheng Jie got married, and we lived separately. ”
Zheng Jie and Yan Zi as girls
"We have been officially pairing doubles since 2000. Maybe because she is slightly older than me and her mind is more flexible, whether it is on the field or off the field, Zheng Jie will generally conduct more. But the personalities of the two of us are not the same, I belong to the kind of person who has a relatively impulsive personality, but the tantrum comes and goes quickly. But Zheng Jie belongs to people who have a good temper on the surface, but are very stubborn behind their backs, and sometimes sulk. So we live in a room that can complement each other in personality, and problems can be solved through communication, and there will never be a cold war. I remember once when we were training in Jiangmen, we quarreled very badly because of some small things, and we were very angry when we returned to the dormitory. I later gradually resolved the small contradiction between us by stuffing her with a small note. ”
After many years of retirement, the two still meet together to attend some events. The picture shows the two participating in the program recording of TVB's "Changing Man Donghua" in 2018.
Grand Slam experience - nervous to the point of not being able to sleep
It has been 13 years since winning the Grand Slam, but looking back at the scene of the game at that time, Yan Zi is still vividly remembered:
"I was so nervous before the game that I couldn't sleep even the night before. But the attention will slowly concentrate in the field, and the tension will be reduced a little. For overcoming tension on the pitch, no matter how many thousands of spectators there are in the field, we will always find the coaching bench first. No matter whether you win or lose, you will look there, and you will not look aimlessly. Of course, as a two-person event, we can at least take pictures of each other on the field, and it is better to say it when we are particularly nervous. ”
A touch of Chinese red at Melbourne Park in 2006
"We didn't expect it when we first won a Grand Slam, after all, we were only the 12th seed, and our best result in the past was only to play in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, and many of the players who participated at that time were already Grand Slam winners. Before the game, we joked that if we could play until the New Year, it would be good to go back, because Chinese New Year's Eve day was the final, and the result was really won by us. ”
In 2006, he smiled proudly at Wimbledon and brushed the Grand Slam for the second time
"At that time, we almost lost the game when we scored 8 and 4, and the third set seemed to be 2:5 behind, and the small scorer also had three consecutive match points, who knows in the end to win us back. In the final, we have been lagging behind, and we lost the first set without any resistance, and I still sighed with Zheng Jie how the gap was so big. But in the back, we are dead horses as live horse doctors, and we are also slowly fighting back. Win-win is often seen in our competitions, and I think psychological qualities are crucial in this kind of competition. ”
Flipping out an old photo, at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, I met Yan Zi for the first time
Family life - kids love to play tennis
A family of six
In 2011, Yan Zi, who was in the year of playing, chose to retire, which surprised many tennis fans. After 8 years, in the face of the problem of early retirement, Yan Zi laughed:
"I originally wanted to play until I was 30 years old, at least after the London Olympics. But the plan could not catch up with the change, and I suddenly became pregnant, so I had to retire early. ”
After retiring from the army, Yan Zi chose to return to the family and rarely appeared. She and her husband, Lee Shing-geun, settled in Hong Kong and had four lovely children over the next six years. For the problem of the family's prosperity, Yan Zi frankly said:
"I myself am an only child, and I have been particularly eager to have siblings since I was a child. So when my husband and I first got married, we decided that we should have at least two, but at most three, and we didn't think that the third child would have twins. ”
As a former Grand Slam champion, Yan Zi proudly said that the child's favorite sport now is tennis, the eldest is 8 years old this year, the second 5 years old, have begun to practice playing. The youngest twin brothers were also very excited to watch their older siblings playing, eager to try. Such a good innate advantage and family atmosphere, I don't know if this family can also go out of the Grand Slam championship in the future?
Yan Zi and her husband and daughter participate in charity activities
In addition to taking care of her family, Yan Zi will now focus more on charity. She currently serves as Prime Minister (Director) of Tung Wah Group of Representatives, Hong Kong's largest charity. For doing charity, Yan Zi explained:
"My husband used to be a graduate of Tung Wah Group of Colleges, so he would love to give back to this institution. But he is usually very busy at work, there is no time to be responsible for hundreds of service units, the workload is huge, so I am in charge of this piece. We hope to help more vulnerable people through philanthropy. ”
Guest Tips
Yan Zi was born on November 12, 1984 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. He began to play tennis at the age of 6 and joined the Chinese national training team in 2001.
WTA Guangzhou Open Women's Singles Champion
In 2005, she won the women's singles championship of the WTA Guangzhou Open; in 2006, she and Zheng Jie won two extremely heavy championship trophies at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, creating the history of Chinese tennis!! In 2008, she won the bronze medal in the women's doubles tennis at the Beijing Olympic Games.
In 2011, Yan Zi retired. Career WTA highest doubles ranking 4th and singles ranking 40th.
The highlights of the Beijing Olympics
Finally, let's look back at the classic moments of 2006 Wimbledon China Golden Flower
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Author: Xu Lijia & Xia Biao
Editor:Wang Jiefang
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