A Different Aspect of Men’s Singles Final in Wimbledon 2008

There is no doubt, the final of men’s singles in Wimbledon 2008 was one of the most memorable matches in the history of tennis and with the Rafael Nadal’s first grand slam title win other than French Open, it is pretty much sure that Roger Federer’s dominance in tennis is now declining. If it is good news for those who want to see more competitiveness on tennis courts, then the best news for the tennis fans in general is nothing but the gentlemanliness of the top two men’s tennis players: Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Neither of them said nothing against each other following the classic final at Wimbledon and did not make any allegation against each other. That is really praiseworthy. A true sportsman must have this kind of quality and both Federer and Nadal have it in them. This is really good for tennis itself too.

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Zheng Jie vs Serena Williams: Who will Win?

China’s Zheng Jie is going to face former world no. 1 Serena Williams in the semi final match of women’s singles in Wimbledon 2008. This is a historic match for China as it is going to be the first semi final of a grand slam tournament where a Chinese player will compete. The match will take place on 3 July 2008, Thursday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon in London.

Serena Williams is favorite for the match on pen and paper, but you should mind it that the Chinese tennis star defeated top seed Ana Ivanovic, 15^th seed Agnes Szavay and 18^th class Nicole Vaidisova in her way to reach the final. So, she will go into the match full of confidence and Zheng Jie will have nothing to lose in the match, but has everything to win. Thus, Serena might be under pressure against Zheng Jie in the match. The only time Serena and Zheng met each other was in Wimbledon 2004 where Serena won the first round match 6-3 6-1. However, Serena Williams might find a different Zheng Jie this time around. So, I will not go for picking up a likely winner for this match.

20 Things About Zheng Jie

Zheng Jie now seems to be the emerging star of tennis world as the Chinese women’s singles player reached the semi final of Wimbledon 2008. She impressed the tennis world with her third round victory over top seed Ana Ivanovic, who won the French Open title last month. Then in the fourth round, she outclassed world no. 15 Agnes Szavay from Hungary and in the quarter final she won over Czech Republic’s Nicole Vaidisiva, current world no. 18 in WTA ranking.

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Zheng Jie will face former world no. 1 Serena Williams in the semi final. For a wildcard entry, it is definitely something more than special and Zheng Jie has turned into a big star of world tennis overnight with her excellent performance in the tournament. She has already proven her skill and talent in doubles. Now, with her top class performance in Wimbledon 2008, Zheng Jie seems to be going to prove her talent and skill in grand slam singles tennis as well.

So, it is natural that tennis fans are now excited with the arrival of another would be star Zheng Jie. It is for sure that Zheng Jie has already made many fans across the world, other than Chinese fans. Naturally, many of the fans are now interested to know about Zheng Jie. That is why; I have made a list of 20 things that you might want to know about this Chinese tennis star. The 20 things about Zheng Jie are as follows:

1. Zheng Jie is the first tennis player from China to reach a Grand Slam singles semi final in Wimbledon 2008.
2. On her way to the semi final of Wimbledon 2008, she defeated world no. 1 and tournament’s top seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round. She also defeated two top 20 ranked players in her way to the semi final. They are 15^th ranked Agnes Szavay of Hungary and 18^th ranked Nicole Vaidisova from Czech Republic in the fourth round and quarter final respectively.
3. Getting a wildcard entry in Wimbledon 2008, she stunned the tennis world by reaching semi final of the tournament. She came into the tournament with world ranking of 133.
4. She was born in Chengdu of Sichuan province on 5 July 1983.
5. Physically she is 1.64 m (5 ft 4+¹⁄₂ inches) tall and weighs 126 lbs. (57 kg).
6. Zheng Jie is a right handed player
7. Her current doubles ranking is 22
8. She debuted in WTA rankings in 2000.
9. Zheng Jie started playing professional tennis from 16 January 2003 and successfully ended the year in the top 100 of singles ranking.
10. The 24-year old Chinese tennis star is mostly known for her doubles success. Till date, Zheng Jie won two Grand Slam women’s doubles titles: Australian Open 2006 and Wimbledon 2006. In the same year, she was ranked 3^rd in doubles, her best ever in women’s doubles.
11. In both of her grand slam doubles success, fellow Chinese Yan Zi was her partner.
12. She won 11 WTA doubles titles in her career in total till date.
13. Though she could not yet win any grand slam singles title so far in her career, Zheng Jie has three WTA singles titles to her credit. These are: Hobart 2005, Estoril 2006 and Nordea Nordic Light 2006.
14. Her best performance in French Open came in 2004 when she made it to the fourth round. However, her success in U.S. Open and Australian Open are not satisfactory at all as she could never go beyond second round of U.S. Open and first round of Australian Open.
15. Reaching 27^th in WTA singles ranking has been her best ever ranking which came in 2006.
16. She has earned $1,815,339 as prize money in her career until now.
17. She tried her luck at Grand Slam arena for the first time in U.S. Open 2002, but failed to get into the final competition as she was ruled out of qualifying round.
18. The following year, Zheng Jie had three unsuccessful attempts in grand slam tournaments, but she could not play in a final competition of a grand slam tournament until Australian 2004. In her debut grand slam tournament, she got out from the first round. However, in doubles, she reached the quarter final of her first grand slam tournament, Australian Open 2004.
19. The win-loss record of Zheng Jie in singles, 223–128, is not something impressive, while her doubles record, 249–98 is quite satisfactory.
20. She is the gold medalists of singles and doubles events of tennis in 2006 Doha Asian Games.
21. Zheng Jie will represent China in singles and doubles events of tennis in the upcoming Beijing Olympics Games 2008.

There is no doubt, Zheng Jie has improved a lot over the years and is waiting for something bigger. No matter, whether she could win the title of Wimbledon 2008 or not, the sort of performance she showed so far in Wimbledon 2008, it is enough for the indication of a bright future of Zheng Jie. She is 24 now and I think, if she can continue improving her tennis skill and hold on there, it is very possible to have some excellent years ahead of her in career. I hope, she will be able to continue her progress both in singles and doubles events in the years to come.

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