Zheng Jie, the first Chinese player to reach a Grand Slam semi-final, admitted she needs to learn how to combat Serena Williams’ howitzer serving — and will be looking to her husband for help.
Wild-card Zheng, the world No. 133, won warm applause from Center Court for her battling performance in her semi-final loss to the eight-time Grand Slam title winner on Thursday.
She even had a set point which would have taken the tie into a decider, but the girl from Sichuan Province was overwhelmed by a Serena serving barrage that saw 14 aces fired past her.
Zheng, 24, joked that she would need husband and hitting partner Zhang Yu to start upping the power on the practice courts if she is to compete with the likes of Williams over the coming years.
“My husband warms up with me every time. He’s a good hitting partner. But maybe he needs to practice the serve more and serve like Serena,” she said. “I hope so and then, next time, I will return much better. Her serve was just too big to me, especially on a grass court. But on other courts, I probably would have had a better chance.”
The 26-year-old Serena had too much brawn for Zheng, who at least had the consolation of picking up US$375,000 for her work here that saw her knock out top seed Ana Ivanovic in the third round.
She’ll also see her ranking shoot back up to around 40 in the world when the new standings are released on Monday.
“I thought I could have won the match when I had set point in the second set,” said Zheng of another harsh lesson learnt. “Probably I was thinking too much about it, then I didn’t get the chance and I lost the point.”
Next on the agenda for Zheng is the Beijing Olympics next month and she is desperate to carry forward her Wimbledon form onto home ground.
“I don’t know if they will treat me like a hero or not. But I will use this experience to have better expectations at the Olympics and to have a better achievement,” she said.
Williams was fulsome in her praise of the Chinese player.
“She pushed me and really played a great match,” said Serena of an opponent she had comfortably defeated in the first round here four years ago.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early yesterday morning marathon to Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina of Spain, while the UK’s Emma Raducanu and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez reached the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2am. Davidovich-Fokina advanced to the semi-final against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six
RSS