Zheng Jie (simplified Chinese: 郑洁; traditional Chinese: 鄭潔; pinyin: Zhèng Jié; born 5 July 1983 in Chengdu, Sichuan) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Her carrer high ranking is World No. 15 which she achieved on May 18, 2009. She has won three WTA singles titles at Hobart in 2005 and Estoril and Stockholm in 2006. She has also won eleven doubles titles with Yan Zi including Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006 and reached a career high ranking of World No. 3. Zheng has also reached the singles semi-finals at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, becoming the first Chinese player to do so and has won the bronze medal in doubles with Yan Zi at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As of August 24, 2009, Zheng is ranked World No. 25 in singles and No. 29 in doubles.
At Wimbledon in 2008, Zheng gained recognition when she became the first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, defeating World No. 1 Ana Ivanović en route.[1] She donated her winnings to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake in her native province.
Seeded 4th at the Moorilla Hobart International, Zheng defeated Marina Erakovic 6-1 4-6 6-1 in the first round. However, she was defeated by Gielsa Dulko 6-3 6-3 in the second round, after which all of the tournament seeds were eliminated.
In January at the Australian Open, Zheng was seeded 22nd in women's singles. She defeated unseeded Camille Pin of France 6-3, 6-3 in the first round, unseeded Melinda Czink of Hungary 7-6 (7-0), 5-7, 6-3 in the second round, and unseeded Kateryna Bondarenko of Ukraine 6-2, 6-2 in the third round. The next day, she and her partner Yan Zi were eliminated from the doubles competition in the third round, with a 7-5, 6-4 loss to Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. In her women's singles fourth round match against 8th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia, Zheng trailed 1-4 in the opening set, but was forced to retire with a left wrist injury after hitting the court while reaching for a ball. This was the furthest that Zheng progressed at women's singles at this tournament in her career.
Zheng was forced to withdraw from China's first round Fed Cup tie with Russia due to the aforementioned injury. The team was also without a replacement for Zheng, and this meant China's campaign was to be led by Yan Zi, the-then World No. 119. China ended up losing to Russia, the defending champions, 5-0.
Zheng returned to action at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, crushing qualifier Anastasia Rodionova 6-1, 6-1. She reached the third round after defeating Samantha Stosur 3-6 7-5 7-5, where she lost to World No. 1 Serena Williams, 6-4 6-2. She and her partner, Yan Zi, lost in the first round in doubles to the Bondarenko sisters.
Seeded 4th at the 2009 Monterrey Open, she beat wildcard Urszula Radwańska of Poland 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour in the first round. She then defeated unseeded Hungarian Melinda Czink 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals, where she faced seventh seed Gisela Dulko of Argentina. She easily beat her 6-3, 6-2. In the semifinals, she then lost to second seed Marion Bartoli with the score of 7-5, 6-3, despite serving for the first set at 5-4, because of her strong performance in the tournament she rose up to world no. 17, her highest so far in the tour.
Seeded 15th at the BNP Paribas Open and receiving a bye in the first round, she lost to unseeded Vera Dushevina of Russia in the second round 6-2, 6-2.
Zheng was seeded 17th at the Sony Ericsson Open. In the second round, she defeated Julia Goerges 6-4, 6-2. In the third round, Zheng had an impressive performance defeating world No. 14 Alize Cornet 6-4, 6-0. In the fourth round Zheng pushed world No. 1 Serena Williams but eventually lost to Williams 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a two hour ten minute match in which Zheng had a 2-0 lead in the third set. Zheng's strong performance helped her to reach world No. 16, the highest ranking ever by a Chinese tennis player. Li Na had also reached world No. 16 in 2007.
At the Rome Masters, Zheng lost to World No. 1 Dinara Safina in a tough three setter in the third round, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6.
At the Madrid Masters, Zheng fell to Amelie Mauresmo in the second round. Despite the loss, on May 18, Zheng became the highest-ranked Chinese player in history, at No. 15.
At the 2009 French Open, Zheng (seeded 15th) progressed to the second round by defeating Frenchwoman Stephanie Cohen-Aloro 6-1 6-3. In the second round, she was defeated by Michelle Larcher de Brito in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3.
At the 2009 AEGON Classic at Birmingham, the first tournament on grass, Zheng was the top seed but lost to the eventual champion Magdalena Rybarikova in the third round 7-6, 6-4.
Zheng was unseeded at the 2009 AEGON International. She defeated Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round 6-2, 6-2. but lost in the second round to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 7-6 (4), 6-3.
She was seeded 16th at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, Zheng defeated Kristina Barrois 7-6, 7-6 in a tough match but was upset by Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 7-5 in the second round. As she was unable to defend her ranking points from the previous year, Zheng's ranking fell out of the top twenty to World No. 24.
Zheng's next tournament was the LA Womens Tennis Championships as part of her US Open Series Campaign. In the first round, Zheng who was seeded 14, defeated Olga Savchuk 7-5, 1-6, 6-2. She then defeated Elena Vesnina, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. In the Third round, she listed her second win over a World No. 1, defeating Dinara Safina 7-5, 4-6, 6-4. She then fell to 13th seed Samantha Stosur 6-4, 3-6, 4-6.
In Cincinnati, Zheng lost to Sybille Bammer in the first round, 6-2 4-6 6-2. However, in Toronto, Zheng swept past Vesnina once again in the first round (6-3 6-2) before claiming another Top 10 win by defeating eight seeded Caroline Wozniacki in the second, 7-5 6-3. Zheng was defeated 7-6, 6-4 by Lucie Safarova in the third round.
At the 2009 US Open, Zheng, who was seeded 21, defeated unseeded Anna-Lena Grönefeld 6-3, 6-2. She defeated Alize Cornet in the 2nd round, 1-6 6-3 6-3.
