Zheng Jie leads sporting revolution in China
Her love life is all over the newspapers and her hair is a talking point, while the sports clothing manufacturers adore the little powerhouse who has helped to send sales of tennis gear soaring. Zheng Jie got into the Wimbledon Championships this year only on a wild card to practise for the Olympic Games, but she became the darling of the Centre Court when she defied the odds to reach the semi-finals.
The Chinese player, who was ranked No133 in the world at the time, seemed to take it in her tiny stride, defeating Ana Ivanovic, the world No1 from Serbia, on her run to the last four. It could have been overwhelming, but Zheng hardly blinked. Until the 5ft 4in player discovered that she had become a superstar big enough to rival Yao Ming, the 7ft 6in basketball player who is a legend in his home country and the nation's highest-paid sportsman.
Zheng was scheduled to open her campaign in the women's singles today against Agnes Szavay, the No11 seed from Hungary. But yesterday, tennis fell victim to weather that would have been more familiar at Wimbledon as the heavens opened and torrential rain bombarded the courts at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. Play had to be abandoned with fewer than half the first day's matches completed, which meant that Andy and Jamie Murray have to wait until today to play their opening match for Great Britain in the men's doubles.
The rain delay, however, will not worry Zheng, who is riding the crest of a wave. Her Wimbledon performance was enough to catapult her into the front rank of her country's sports stars, but giving away her £187,500 prize-money - the biggest pay cheque of her career - to the victims of the Sichuan earthquake disaster endeared her to a nation. Shy and softly spoken, the gift was offered modestly in the quiet way Zheng goes about her tennis.
But the spotlight was already blazing in her direction. Almost unknown a few months ago, Zheng, 25, now needs bodyguards to keep the crowds at bay and is suddenly fodder for the paparazzi, who snap pictures of her with the man she thanked for helping her to success at Wimbledon, her husband and coach, Zhang Yu. Even a trip to the hairdressers in the Olympic Village merits a picture story.
No wonder, because Zheng is leading a Chinese sporting revolution. Two million Chinese play tennis regularly - expected to rise to six million in two years - and it is ranked as the second-biggest participation sport among young people after basketball. Tennis shirts fly off the shelves and rackets that retailers could not give away a decade ago are must-have items. Parents are prepared to spend big money to get their children into tennis academies to give them a chance to follow in the footsteps of Zheng, and amateur tournaments thrive all over the country.
Tennis had a long way to travel in China. Regarded once as a sport for the privileged elite, there were only 20 courts in the country 15 years ago. But the sport has been on a rapid ascent since Li Ting and Sun Tiantian won China's first gold medal in tennis in the women's doubles in Athens four years ago. When Zheng and Yan Zi won their women's doubles title at Wimbledon in 2006, the match was broadcast on television in Beijing in place of the football World Cup final. Hopes are high here for gold in the women's doubles, with Zheng and Yan paired again, but for the first time there is a realistic chance in the women's singles.
One woman Zheng will not have to face again is Ivanovic, who withdrew yesterday because of an injured right thumb. Serena Williams, who defeated Zheng in the Wimbledon semifinals, is in the competition with Venus, her sister.
The power of the Williams sisters is one reason Zheng has been playing down expectations, underlining her commitment to her doubles partnership, which she believes has the best chance of a medal. “I never thought I would do so well at Wimbledon,” she said. “But I am sure it is crucial to my preparation for the Games. Everybody wants more medals, but I am more hopeful in the doubles because we have been preparing for a long time.”
As preparation goes, it does not come much more spectacular than a Wimbledon semi-final. Now China wants to see the smallest of its superstars take a giant leap forward to an Olympic gold medal.
Source:The Times