Eastern promise
這一篇則是提到亞洲新勢力的崛起，
文章起首提到近年東歐與俄羅斯兵團在網壇勢力日漸強大，
不過亞洲勢力在近年網壇的影響力同樣不容忽視。
其中包括今年闖進四強的鄭潔，七度晉級溫網第４輪而今年終於躋身前八的Tanasugarn，
還有剛破連續參加大滿貫次數的老將杉山愛、近年表現穩定的李娜；
以及近年受腕傷困擾的Srichaphan與日本矚目新秀錦織圭。
Over the past few years, eastern Europe has been a veritable hotbed of tennis
talent. If it were not for the Williams sisters then the top 10 of the WTA
rankings would be almost entirely made up of Serbs and Russians. With Novak
Djokovic also turning the two-way battle for supremacy in the men’s game
into a genuine three-cornered affair, many column inches have been devoted to
the rise of players from Russia and the Balkans.
Those looking for the next big thing, however, would be wise to look even
further east. For the past decade, Ai Sugiyama has been almost the sole Asian
representative in either the men’s or the ladies’ draws – and with 16
consecutive Wimbledons and 57 Grand Slams in a row, she has certainly been
flying the flag.
In recent years, however, she has been joined by a new generation of players
from the far east, with Monday’s fourth round matches featuring both Zheng
Jie and Tamarine Tanasugarn. Zheng was all set to break into the top 30 at
the end of 2006 after winning matches at the French and US Opens.
She also made it to the third round here as well as clinching two Grand Slam
doubles titles with Yan Zi. A left ankle injury suffered at Roland Garros in
2007 put a premature end to her season and saw her plummet 130 places in the
rankings. She also missed out on this year’s Australian Open. Zheng had to
go through qualifying for the French but did so with flying colours and
advanced to the third round of the main draw.
This coupled with strong showings at Miami and Indian Wells has catapulted
her back up the rankings. Today she went a step further, emulating Na Li who
was the first Chinese woman to make it to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
Speaking of Li, she was relatively disappointing here last week, losing in
the second round to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, but has firmly established
herself in the top 30 for two years.
The other Asian in Tuesday's quarter-finals is Tamarine Tanasugarn. The Thai
is a veteran player in her 30s who won her first grass court title earlier in
June at ‘s-Hertogenbosch beating Dinara Safina in the final. It was her
fifth win over a top 10 player – three of which have come on grass. The
result catapulted her back into the top 60, and she will be climbing even
further on the back of her heroics at Wimbledon, which included her defeat of
No. 13 seed Vera Zvonareva in the second round and No.2 seed Jelena Jankovic
in the fourth round.
With Tanasugarn’s countryman Paradorn Srichaphan plummeting down the ATP
rankings due to a persistent wrist injury, all eyes are now on Kei Nishikori.
The 18-year-old Japanese prodigy is part of the Nick Bollettieri tennis
academy and was lucky enough to serve as Roger Federer’s hitting partner at
Wimbledon last year. He made his ATP debut in Los Angeles later in the
season, and began 2008 on the challenger circuit before qualifying for the
Delray Beach tournament.
Florian Mayer, Amer Delic, Bobby Reynolds and Sam Querrey were all brushed
aside as Nishikori made the final and then upset No.1 seed James Blake in
three sets. This made him the first Japanese man in almost 16 years to win an
ATP event (his former coach Shuzo Matsuoka defeated Todd Woodbridge in Seoul
in April 1992).
The 18-year-old was still flying under the radar until the Artois at Queen’s
Club this month, when he took eventual winner and world No. 2 Rafael Nadal to
three sets in the third round. Though Wimbledon ended prematurely for him
with a second round withdrawal due to an abdominal strain, great things are
tipped for Nishikori, who is the youngest player in the top 100 and has
recently signed a number of lucrative endorsement deals. When he returns to
Wimbledon next year, he is likely to have an even bigger reputation – and
perhaps by then, east Asia will be the new eastern Europe.
Source:
http://tinyurl.com/654n4o
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