'Crazy' Zheng happy to shoulder burden
Source: AFP |
June 20, 2013, Thursday
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Print Edition
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NEVER-SAY-DIE Zheng Jie was hailed for her 'crazy' tennis at Wimbledon by champion Serena Williams 12 months ago and under-pressure compatriot Li Na couldn't be happier.
World No. 6 Li, China's first grand slam champion when she won the French Open in 2011, will go into Wimbledon next week in the unusual position of not being her country's favorite to progress into the second week.
The 31-year-old's best performances at the All England Club remain two runs to the quarterfinals in 2006 and 2010.
But it's Zheng, the world No. 47, who can boast the better record at the season's third grand slam, having reached the semifinals in 2008, two years after she and Yan Zi took the women's doubles title.
Zheng, who will turn 30 next month, pushed world No. 1 Williams to a tough three-setter in the third round last year with the American edging the decider, 9-7.
"After we finished the match, she just told me, You are crazy. You are crazy," said Zheng.
The American had also ended her historic run in 2008.
"I was like, 'I just want to get this over'. She played really well, I think she played unbelievable," admitted Williams.
Li, meanwhile, heads for London having seen her halo slip in the aftermath of her tetchy 7-5, 3-6, 2-6 second-round French Open defeat to unseeded American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
World No. 6 Li, China's first grand slam champion when she won the French Open in 2011, will go into Wimbledon next week in the unusual position of not being her country's favorite to progress into the second week.
The 31-year-old's best performances at the All England Club remain two runs to the quarterfinals in 2006 and 2010.
But it's Zheng, the world No. 47, who can boast the better record at the season's third grand slam, having reached the semifinals in 2008, two years after she and Yan Zi took the women's doubles title.
Zheng, who will turn 30 next month, pushed world No. 1 Williams to a tough three-setter in the third round last year with the American edging the decider, 9-7.
"After we finished the match, she just told me, You are crazy. You are crazy," said Zheng.
The American had also ended her historic run in 2008.
"I was like, 'I just want to get this over'. She played really well, I think she played unbelievable," admitted Williams.
Li, meanwhile, heads for London having seen her halo slip in the aftermath of her tetchy 7-5, 3-6, 2-6 second-round French Open defeat to unseeded American Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
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