Zheng vs. Dulko in Hobart Final
HOBART, Australia - The dramatic rise of China as a tennis force continued in
Hobart on Thursday with Zheng Jie advancing to Friday's final of the $110,000
Moorilla International.
Zheng, 21, who at Roland Garros last year became the first Chinese woman to
reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam, defeated compatriot Li Na 36 64 60
Thursday to become the fifth different woman from her country to earn a Tour
singles final berth.
After six runner-up finishes, China produced its first-ever Sony Ericsson WTA
Tour singles champion last October when 22-year-old qualifier Li Na defeated
Martina Sucha in the Tier III Guangzhou final. Between 1995 and 1998, three
different Chinese women reached Tour finals, only to fall at the last hurdle.
Li Fang, China's most successful player on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, reached
a career-high ranking of No.36 in 1998. She finished runner-up at three Tour
events - 1995 Hobart (AUS), 1998 Makarska (CRO) and Pattaya City (THA). Yi Jing
-Qian (1995 Surabaya-INA and Pattaya City-THA) and Chen Li Ling
(1996 Beijing-CHN) were the other two women to have previously reached Tour
singles finals until Li.
Having seen Li Ting and Sun Tian Tian win the Olympic doubles gold medal in
Athens last year, China has much to celebrate in the tennis arena in the
lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In Friday's final, Zheng will take on another first-time finalist, No.2 seed
Gisela Dulko. Nineteen-year-old Dulko, who helped Argentina to reach last
week's Hopman Cup final, overcame a tight first set to beat No.3 seed Iveta
Benesova 75 62.
Not to be content with singles success, Zheng has partnered compatriot Yan Zi
to also reach the doubles final. The top seeds will meet No.2 seeds Anabel
Medina Garrigues and Dinara Safina.
By way of Peng Shuai's barnstorming run in Sydney, China has the chance to
reach another Tour final. The 19-year-old qualifer, who stunned world No.3
Anastasia Myskina in the second round of the Medibank International, takes on
home favorite Alicia Molik Friday for a place in the final of the $585,000 Tier
II event.
The singles final at the Moorilla International is scheduled to begin at 19.00
hrs local time on Friday.
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