Zheng Jie

The 27 year old Zheng Jie was born on July 5, 1983 in Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China. As of August 23, 2010, she is number 23 in the world, although her highest ranking achieved was at No. 15, which she achieved on May 18, 2009. Zheng holds a career record of 297-155 with 3 WTA titles won in Hobart in 2005 and in Estoril, Portugal and Stockholm in 2006. She also has 4 ITF single career titles, and 11 WTA and 16 ITF double career titles.

Her Grand Slam results, under the singles category, include the first round in the 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 Australian Open, fourth round of the 2004 French Open, semi-finals of the 2008 Wimbledon and third of the 2008 US Open. Her doubles results include being the title holder of the 2006 Australian Open and the 2006 Wimbledon, semi-finalist of the 2006 French Open and quarterfinalist of the 2005, 2006 and 2008 US Open.

During Zheng’s amateur career, she already gained entry to the 2002 WTA Tournament in Shanghai and ended the year with a 183rd position in the world ranking. After a year, she qualified for the Hyderabad and for the Doha games. Zheng turning professional in 2003 and was quickly in the top 100 before 2004.

She was considered to be one of China’s, actually Asia’s, second-highest ranked female player in the women’s singles after fellow countryman Li Na. Zheng earned a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic games and a gold medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games under the doubles division. She as well earned a gold medal for the singles division at the same Asian Games.

Her exceptional performance in tennis was when she defeated world number 1 Ana Ivonovich at the semifinals of 2008 Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament. She was the first Chinese to reach this far. But her kind heart made her more popular. She voluntarily donated all her winnings to the 2008 victims of the Sichuan Earthquake, where she came from.