This Chinese Woman just made Wimbledon History

[RebelAzn]

She came in ranked 133 and was a wild card to get into Wimbledon. Her next match will be really really tough. She will be facing Serena Williams who I think is the best female tennis player in the world. Meanwhile, the other Thai girl Tanasugarn just lost to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals. Perhaps their performance will jump start tennis in Asia.

Wimbledon

Jie Zheng makes history by overcoming Nicole Vaidisova to reach the semi-finals at SW19

By Andrew Baker at Wimbledon
Last Updated: 7:34pm BST 01/07/2008

Two pieces of Wimbledon history were made on No 1 Court at 4.58pm, when Jie Zheng, the wild card entrant who has been the revelation of these Championships, defeated Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic to become the first Chinese player ever to reach a Grand Slam semi-final, and the first wild card player to reach the semi-finals of the women’s singles.
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The diminutive 24-year-old from Chengdu beat the No 18 seed 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 in a little under two hours, and while the achievement pales beside her third-round ousting of the world No 1 and No 1 seed Ana Ivanovic, her performance proved that she has consistency and heart as well as a game that is difficult for her opponents to cope with.
Jie Zheng
History-maker: China's Jie Zheng queries a call during her last-eight victory over Nicole Vaidisova

Zheng regularly delivers her first serve at 80mph or thereabouts, and her second wouldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding, if they have such a confection in Chengdu. Yet she aced Vaidisova, a 5ft 11in Sharapova lookalike, on two occasions, once with great placement and once because the ball came through at ankle height.

China’s new heroine will play Serena Williams in the semi-finals, which may turn out to be hard luck: her skidding deliveries would cause more trouble for Venus, the lankier of the Williams sisters.

It might be said that each of Zheng’s opponents at Wimbledon this year have self destructed, but this is now a lot more than coincidence: it is a trend. There is clearly something about the Chinese player’s game that drives opponents to distraction, and it isn’t just her lack of inches, scuttling shots and goofy grin.

She has stickability, and stays in games and rallies when her rivals might reasonably expect her to give up. She also gets around the court with great speed, and can hit the ball on both flanks with a power that belies her slight frame.
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The can-do girl from Chengdu is already the most sensational and endearing story of Wimbledon 2007. Can she now go and beat a multiple champion?

[Candide]

I haven't been following tennis lately but this is awesome! I hope she'll beat the shorter of the Williams brothers.

[shogun]

For far too long have Westerners regarded the Chinese people as faceless automotons, and treated them as such. Well this young lady from earthquake devasted Sichuan province has just given another traditionally western dominated sport a big FUCK YOU and LICK MY YELLOW PUSSY. Just like Liu Xiang gave the American dominated track & field sport a big FUCK YOU and SUCK MY YELLOW DICK during the 2004 Athens Olympics with his gold medal win.

With Beijing 2008 just around the corner, the west should prepare itself for more thrashing by previously no-name Chinese athletes. Only the naive still hold that sports and politics don't mix. A country's athletic triumphs (and defeats) have always been used as a barometer by which its overall strength and status is evaluated. As an ethnic Chinese, I am proud to see a strong China emerge from centuries of weakness. This girl from Chengdu is a heroine to me.

Zhong Guo ... Jia You.

[t-tocs]

Just awesome!

[jaehwan]

Well this young lady from earthquake devasted Sichuan province has just given another traditionally western dominated sport a big FUCK YOU and LICK MY YELLOW PUSSY. Just like Liu Xiang gave the American dominated track & field sport a big FUCK YOU and SUCK MY YELLOW DICK during the 2004 Athens Olympics with his gold medal win.

Umm...I don't think the sexual references when comparing men and women have anywhere near the same weight or meaning given the history of stereotypes based on gender. And when I watched Liu Xiang run, I didn't get any kind of impression that he was saying fuck you or suck my yellow dick to anyone; he was just happy to run and to demonstrate his abilities.

Anyway, thanks to Rebel for posting this. I appreciate the sports stories.

[nightshade]

The New York Times did a profile on her today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/03/sports/tennis/03tennis.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[TheMac]

Excellent for her.

[RebelAzn]

She also just donated all her earnings at Wimbledon to the earthquake victims in China. So, she also has a heart of gold.

Thanks for the article Nightshade. Perhaps her success will teach China sports to not overall average sized athletes. She is only 5'5" at most but she has a good game. China is trying to develop those huge amazon looking women similar to trend in rest of the tennis. However, there are many athletes who might not be huge but they got game and she is proving it on the world stage.

Hopefully, this will jump start Tennis in China. I don't recall ever seeing a tennis court there. China really needs to develop a system like the USA where everyone get a chance at young age. You never know talent cause some kids develop much later than early.

Anyway, I don't expect her to beat Serena since Serena plays like a guy and she has been dominating so far. However, she already made history and hopefully that will jump start tennis like Yao Ming did to basketball.

[RebelAzn]

Speaking of amazons, have any of you heard of this Chinese girl? Her name is Chen Xue. No one in the USA heard of her but she is already one of the huge talent in beach volleyball already. She will make noise in the Olympics. She is only 19 and already one of the top beach volleyball teams in the world. In fact, Chinese women are doing extremely well in beach volleyball. I watch it cause I used to play a ton. Anyway, she is 19 and she is 6'3".

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/09hDatOeVU66y/610x.jpg

Her and her teammate Xi Zhang who is awesome as well:

http://www.paulpoole.co.th/phuketwomensopen/images/teams/team_china3.jpg

[minbo]

I understand that seeing athletic women prance around in bathing suits is a big audience draw, but I really dislike that the organizing body has institutionalized it so much. Did they really need to specify two piece uniforms with a very skimpy MAXIMAL limit of coverage per piece?

[RebelAzn]

I understand that seeing athletic women prance around in bathing suits is a big audience draw, but I really dislike that the organizing body has institutionalized it so much. Did they really need to specify two piece uniforms with a very skimpy MAXIMAL limit of coverage per piece?

Dude do we have to turn this into a political debate? When I played grass doubles or beach ball, I usually played topless. I understand your point, but they are athletes who are playing beach volleyball so two piece bikini is not that big of a deal. Besides, those women look very fit.

[evil_FUX]

I understand that seeing athletic women prance around in bathing suits is a big audience draw, but I really dislike that the organizing body has institutionalized it so much. Did they really need to specify two piece uniforms with a very skimpy MAXIMAL limit of coverage per piece?

HELL YES. I don't see how else you could get do it without hindering movement. If you're suggesting they play nude, well I wouldn't mind.

[Dialectic]

HELL YES. I don't see how else you could get do it without hindering movement. If you're suggesting they play nude, well I wouldn't mind.

Agreed. Suppose prevailing social norms took a more conservative turn? There would be social pressure to wear more, hindering movement, and thus harming the sport. That is unacceptable.

[evil_FUX]

Agreed. Suppose prevailing social norms took a more conservative turn? There would be social pressure to wear more, hindering movement, and thus harming the sport. That is unacceptable.

Totally and completely unacceptable.

[RebelAzn]

Zheng Jie lost to Serena Williams 6-2, 7-6. She played really tough in the 2nd set and almost beat Serena. However, Serena was just on with her serves with her 14 aces to Jie's 0 and that's the difference in the game. Jie did went toe to toe with Serena on the ground game and she did well. I guess it is another all Williams sister affair in the finals. Zheng Jie did get a huge ovation from the Wimbledon crowd. You can see they were cheering for her but Serena was just too strong with her serves.

Considering China only started developing tennis in 2000, they have came a long way. The future is very bright for Chinese tennis with her Wimbledon success.

Her story from UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/07/03/utserena103.xml

[nightshade]

I understand that seeing athletic women prance around in bathing suits is a big audience draw, but I really dislike that the organizing body has institutionalized it so much. Did they really need to specify two piece uniforms with a very skimpy MAXIMAL limit of coverage per piece?

Do you remember that American beach volleyball team where the two players wouldn't speak to each other because one thought the other was a loser for getting breast implants? Haha, the chick who got the implants is named Holly McPeak (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holly_McPeak).