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Zheng looks to her husband for help in build-up to Beijing

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.
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