Zhang Shuai (tennis)
Encyclopedia
Zhang Shuai (born 21 January 1989 in Tianjin
) is a Chinese
professional female tennis
player. , she is the fourth-highest ranked women's singles player from China, at World number 90.
In 2004 she was wildcarded into two further $25,000 events and won her first match on the circuit in the first, at Beijing in May. She also entered qualifying for two $50,000 events towards the end of the year, winning one match in each case.
Starting 2005 with a lowly ranking of World No. 901, she entered ten ITF events at various levels during the year and improved her ranking to World No. 648 by its end. During the year, she successfully battled through qualifying to enter three $25,000 main draws, and won two main draw first round matches at this level, with victories over World No. 292 Maria Jose Argeri at Nanjing, China in May, and World No. 271 Sophie Ferguson
at Wuxi, China in August.
In March, she qualified successfully for a further $25,000 tournament at Canberra, Australia, before losing in the first round proper.
In May, a wildcard into the main draw of a $50,000 event at Beijing paved the way for her winning her first two matches at this level to reach the quarter-finals, where she lost to former Top 50 player Anikó Kapros
. But the very next week, a further wildcard into the main draw of a $25,000 event at Tianjin, China was rewarded by outright tournament victory as she notched up the third title of her career and the first at $25,000 level.
Her ranking having leapt up further to World No. 346 by the middle of June, she battled through qualifying to enter the main draw of another $25,000 event at Changwon, Korea, and then won four further matches to reach the final before losing.
In July, now world-ranked No. 297, she gained direct entry to the main draw of a $25,000 event at Chongqing, China, and reacher her third successive final, defeating World No. 227 Melanie South
in the semifinal, before losing to lower-ranked Russian talent Elena Chalova
in three sets in the final. The very next week, she reached the semifinal at a $25,000 tournament at Chengdu City, where she faced South again, this time losing to her in two close sets.
In August, her strong form continued, as she reached another $25,000 quarter-final at Changsha early in the month, and then won her second career title at this level at Nanjing three weeks later. In the final week of the month, she entered the $50,000 event at Guangzhou and won one match before losing in the second round.
In September, her ranking having risen dramatically further to World No. 209, she attempted to qualify for the main draw of the $600,000 WTA tournament at Beijing, and took her much higher-ranked opponent, World No. 59 Jelena Kostanić Tošić, to three close sets before losing. A week later, she was wildcarded into the main draw of the $175,000 WTA event at Guangzhou
, and took the first set against World No. 26 Anna Chakvetadze
before eventually losing in three, 6–3, 5–7, 0–6. This promising although ultimately unsuccessful performance would be the last match of an eventful and highly gainful year for the Chinese teen.
team in 2007.
In competitive singles, Zhang began the year world ranked No. 203, and despite losing her first three matches of year was propelled upwards into the World Top 200 at No. 200 by random fluctuations in the strength of the field around her by the time of her fourth tournament in mid-February. This position was short-lived as she continued to suffer disappointing results early in the year; but in April she scored one good victory over World No. 159 Lioudmila Skavronskaia, and subsequently, later the same month, took World No. 23 Tathiana Garbin
to three sets before losing 4–6 in the third.
A period of unprecedented success on the ITF circuit followed, as she proceeded to win three back-to-back $25,000 titles and then one $50,000 title in China between late April and early June, dropping just two sets in twenty successive matches.
In late June, her ranking having soared from World No. 209 to a career high of World No. 153 on the strength of these successes, she extended her winning streak to 24 matches in a $25,000 event at Noto, Japan before losing in the final to Regina Kulikova
whom she had just defeated in straight sets in the finals of both the two previous tournaments she won.
Undeterred, she returned to her winning ways at the next tournament she entered, another $25,000 event at Nagoya, Japan, after facing Kulikova in the final for the fourth tournament in succession. But the next week she lost in the final of a $25,000 event at Miyazaki, Japan, this time to Junri Namigata
in straight sets; and a week later, now world-ranked No. 145, she could only reach the quarter-finals of a $25,000 event at Kirume, Japan before this time losing to Australian prospect Sophie Ferguson
in three sets.
Nonetheless, once the results from her last tournaments had all been factored in, she reached a fresh career high of World No. 132 on July 23.
Mixed results ensued for the rest of the year, after she was largely unsuccessful in trying her hand at higher-level tournaments, and she ended the year world-ranked a slightly lower No. 155.
and World No. 91 Lilia Osterloh
to qualify for the $145,000 WTA event at Auckland in early January, before losing in the first round of the main draw to World No. 90 Aravane Rezaï
.
She reached the final round of qualifying for the Australian Open later that month after recording wins over World No. 129 Stéphanie Foretz
and World No. 179 Elena Baltacha
before losing a three-setter in the qualifying round to World No. 117 Tamarine Tanasugarn
. This performance was sufficient to elevate her world ranking to World No. 141, just nine places short of her career best.
A disappointing string of six successive first round losses in straight sets followed, four in events of only $25,000 calibre.
In late May, in the first round of qualifying for the French Open, she defeated World No. 96 Anne Keothavong, but this was a rare success in a bleak spell that saw her ranking plummet to World No. 232 by the middle of July as she failed to defend her several ITF tournament victories from the previous summer.
Her form then showed signs of improvement, as she won three back-to-back matches to qualify for the $175,000 WTA event at Bad Gastein in Austria before losing in the first round proper, and then after taking a month off won through qualifying into the main draw of the US Open
by successively defeating Jorgelina Cravero
, World No. 107 Stéphanie Dubois
, and World No. 137 Melanie South
. Although she then lost to World No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova
of Russia in the first round of the main draw, 6–4 6–2, her world ranking, which had fallen to No. 243, was boosted slightly to No. 223 by her successes in the qualifying tournament.
She played only two more tournaments that year, both in September. She lost in the first round of the first; but at the second, the $600,000 event at Beijing, she won through qualifying, assisted by the early retirement of her high-ranked second-round opponent World No. 41 Olga Govortsova
, before losing an extremely close battle in the first round proper to World No. 19 Alizé Cornet
, 1–6, 6–3, 6–7. The ranking points accrued in her qualification for the main draw were sufficient for her to end the year up slightly again at World No. 212.
Retreating to $10,000 level ITF events after a four-month break from competitive play, she found herself reaching only the quarter-finals of the first two she entered, losing to much lower-ranked opponents, but won the third outright, defeating rising star Claire Feuerstein
in a closely fought three-set final at Lyon, although in the fourth she then proceeded to lose heavily in the second round to fast-rising World No. 460 Elena Chalova
.
Raising her level back to $25,000 events in mid-March, she won just one match in two tournaments entered, a win over World No. 229 Stephanie Gehrlein at Tenerife, with losses to experienced opponents in World No. 134 Yvonne Meusburger
and former Top 100 star Sanda Mamić
following.
She did not play in April, but the month of May brought a return to form as she won her first $25,000 level event since 2007 at Nagano, Japan, although she did not have to face any player ranked in the Top 250 or indeed above her then-current ranking of World No. 262 on the way.
Zhang lost early to unheralded opponents in the next two $25,000 events she entered, but won her second of the year at the end of June in Xiamen, China, defeating World No. 196 Han Xinyun
in the semifinals on her way to the title. This success propelled her ranking back upwards to World No. 218.
In August, she was stopped at the semi-final stage of a $25,000 tournament at Quanzhou, China, by a familiar adversary in the form of World No. 165 Sophie Ferguson
. Her subsequent attempt to qualify for the second year in succession for the U.S. Open was stopped at the second hurdle in her second loss of the year to Yvonne Meusburger
.
In September, she narrowly failed to qualify for two successive $220,000 tournaments, losing in the qualifying round at both Guangzhou
and Seoul, where Sophie Ferguson
once again put paid to her hopes despite this time winning two fewer games than Zhang in the match, with the final scoreline 0–6, 7–6(5), 6–3.
But a remarkable turnaround in her fortunes was just around the corner. After entering the Premier Mandatory event 2009 China Open
main draw as a wildcard, world ranked No. 226, she reached the 3rd round by first defeating World No. 33 Iveta Benešová
in straight sets, and then upsetting the current World No. 1 Dinara Safina
in two close sets, 7–5, 7–6. These were her first two victories over any player currently ranked in the Top 75 for reasons other than the early retirement of her opponent, her first two victories over any player currently ranked in the Top 40 for any reason including the retirement of her opponent, and her first two victories over any opponent ranked higher than World No. 196 in 2009. She lost relatively comfortably in the third round to World No. 13 Marion Bartoli
.
In beating Safina in this tournament, Zhang also incidentally surpassed the record set by Julie Coin in her defeat of Ana Ivanović in 2008, succeeding her as the lowest-ranked player to defeat a reigning World No. 1 in a WTA main tour event in the Open era. Coin was ranked World No. 188 at the time of her defeat of Ivanović, some 38 places above Zhang at the time of her defeat of Safina.
Zhang's ranking rebounded to World No. 160 following the tournament, still 28 places short of her career high.
, she cracked into the top 100 for the first time.
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...
) is a Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
professional female tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player. , she is the fourth-highest ranked women's singles player from China, at World number 90.
Career Summary
Zhang has enjoyed considerable success in singles on the ITF circuit, having won one $50,000 event, eight $25,000 tournaments and three $10,000 events between 2006 and 2009. As of October 2009, however, she had won only two main draw matches on the WTA circuit. Her peak ranking to date is World No. 73, achieved in 2011.2003-2005
The Chinese teenager participated in her first ITF event in November 2003 at the age of 14 as a main draw wildcard at the $25,000 tournament at Taizhou, but was heavily defeated by Tomoko Yonemura.In 2004 she was wildcarded into two further $25,000 events and won her first match on the circuit in the first, at Beijing in May. She also entered qualifying for two $50,000 events towards the end of the year, winning one match in each case.
Starting 2005 with a lowly ranking of World No. 901, she entered ten ITF events at various levels during the year and improved her ranking to World No. 648 by its end. During the year, she successfully battled through qualifying to enter three $25,000 main draws, and won two main draw first round matches at this level, with victories over World No. 292 Maria Jose Argeri at Nanjing, China in May, and World No. 271 Sophie Ferguson
Sophie Ferguson
Sophie Ferguson is an Australian professional tennis player.Ferguson's best performance at a Grand Slam tournament was at the 2005 Australian Open, where she lost in the second round to Nadia Petrova, 4–6, 6–0, 6–1...
at Wuxi, China in August.
2006
The new year began with Zhang trying her hand at entry-level $10,000 ITF tournaments, and the move paid dividends as she won her first two tournaments of the year outright to claim the first two titles of her young career, both successes coming at Shenzhen, China. On the back of these breakthroughs, her ranking was propelled upwards to World No. 500.In March, she qualified successfully for a further $25,000 tournament at Canberra, Australia, before losing in the first round proper.
In May, a wildcard into the main draw of a $50,000 event at Beijing paved the way for her winning her first two matches at this level to reach the quarter-finals, where she lost to former Top 50 player Anikó Kapros
Aniko Kapros
Anikó Kapros is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. Kapros won the Junior's singles title at the Australian Open in 2000...
. But the very next week, a further wildcard into the main draw of a $25,000 event at Tianjin, China was rewarded by outright tournament victory as she notched up the third title of her career and the first at $25,000 level.
Her ranking having leapt up further to World No. 346 by the middle of June, she battled through qualifying to enter the main draw of another $25,000 event at Changwon, Korea, and then won four further matches to reach the final before losing.
In July, now world-ranked No. 297, she gained direct entry to the main draw of a $25,000 event at Chongqing, China, and reacher her third successive final, defeating World No. 227 Melanie South
Melanie South
Melanie Jayne South is an English tennis player. She is currently the British number 7 and ranked 310 in the world...
in the semifinal, before losing to lower-ranked Russian talent Elena Chalova
Elena Chalova
Elena Chalova is a professional Russian tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On November 9, 2009, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 151. Her current singles ranking is 160 as of 19 April 2010. She is currently coached by Valeri Chalov....
in three sets in the final. The very next week, she reached the semifinal at a $25,000 tournament at Chengdu City, where she faced South again, this time losing to her in two close sets.
In August, her strong form continued, as she reached another $25,000 quarter-final at Changsha early in the month, and then won her second career title at this level at Nanjing three weeks later. In the final week of the month, she entered the $50,000 event at Guangzhou and won one match before losing in the second round.
In September, her ranking having risen dramatically further to World No. 209, she attempted to qualify for the main draw of the $600,000 WTA tournament at Beijing, and took her much higher-ranked opponent, World No. 59 Jelena Kostanić Tošić, to three close sets before losing. A week later, she was wildcarded into the main draw of the $175,000 WTA event at Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, and took the first set against World No. 26 Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Chakvetadze
Anna Djambulilovna Chakvetadze is a Russian professional tennis player . On September 10, 2007, she reached her career-high professional singles ranking of World No. 5. She has won eight WTA Singles Titles and appeared in the 2007 US Open semifinals. As of July 4, 2011, Chakvetadze is ranked World...
before eventually losing in three, 6–3, 5–7, 0–6. This promising although ultimately unsuccessful performance would be the last match of an eventful and highly gainful year for the Chinese teen.
2007
Zhang was a member of China's Fed CupFed Cup
Fed Cup is the premier team competition in women's tennis, launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation...
team in 2007.
In competitive singles, Zhang began the year world ranked No. 203, and despite losing her first three matches of year was propelled upwards into the World Top 200 at No. 200 by random fluctuations in the strength of the field around her by the time of her fourth tournament in mid-February. This position was short-lived as she continued to suffer disappointing results early in the year; but in April she scored one good victory over World No. 159 Lioudmila Skavronskaia, and subsequently, later the same month, took World No. 23 Tathiana Garbin
Tathiana Garbin
Tathiana Garbin is an Italian tennis player. As of 17 May 2010, she is ranked World No. 56 in singles and No. 38 in doubles. Garbin is probably best known for her shocking defeat of the defending champion and the reigning World No. 1 Justine Henin in the second round of the 2004 French Open...
to three sets before losing 4–6 in the third.
A period of unprecedented success on the ITF circuit followed, as she proceeded to win three back-to-back $25,000 titles and then one $50,000 title in China between late April and early June, dropping just two sets in twenty successive matches.
In late June, her ranking having soared from World No. 209 to a career high of World No. 153 on the strength of these successes, she extended her winning streak to 24 matches in a $25,000 event at Noto, Japan before losing in the final to Regina Kulikova
Regina Kulikova
Regina Kulikova is a professional Russian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 65th, which she reached on May 3, 2010. Her career high in doubles is 417th, which she reached on September 28, 2009...
whom she had just defeated in straight sets in the finals of both the two previous tournaments she won.
Undeterred, she returned to her winning ways at the next tournament she entered, another $25,000 event at Nagoya, Japan, after facing Kulikova in the final for the fourth tournament in succession. But the next week she lost in the final of a $25,000 event at Miyazaki, Japan, this time to Junri Namigata
Junri Namigata
Junri Namigata is a Japanese professional tennis player. Her career high WTA singles ranking is 105, which she reached on February 28, 2011. Her career high doubles ranking is 109, set on April 14, 2008. U- Singles 12 :- Doubles 22 :...
in straight sets; and a week later, now world-ranked No. 145, she could only reach the quarter-finals of a $25,000 event at Kirume, Japan before this time losing to Australian prospect Sophie Ferguson
Sophie Ferguson
Sophie Ferguson is an Australian professional tennis player.Ferguson's best performance at a Grand Slam tournament was at the 2005 Australian Open, where she lost in the second round to Nadia Petrova, 4–6, 6–0, 6–1...
in three sets.
Nonetheless, once the results from her last tournaments had all been factored in, she reached a fresh career high of World No. 132 on July 23.
Mixed results ensued for the rest of the year, after she was largely unsuccessful in trying her hand at higher-level tournaments, and she ended the year world-ranked a slightly lower No. 155.
2008
Zhang began the new year strongly, recording her first two career Top 100 wins over World No. 79 Jill CraybasJill Craybas
- Early years :Craybas was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, where she played for coach Andy Brandi's Florida Gators women's tennis team in National Collegiate Athletics Association competition from 1993 to...
and World No. 91 Lilia Osterloh
Lilia Osterloh
Lilia Osterloh is a tennis player from the United States, who started a professional career in August 1997....
to qualify for the $145,000 WTA event at Auckland in early January, before losing in the first round of the main draw to World No. 90 Aravane Rezaï
Aravane Rezaï
Aravane Rezaï is an Iranian-French tennis player born in Saint-Étienne, France to Iranian parents. She is the current French No. 5 in women's tennis. Rezaï took up tennis after a childhood stint as her older brother's ball girl...
.
She reached the final round of qualifying for the Australian Open later that month after recording wins over World No. 129 Stéphanie Foretz
Stéphanie Foretz
Stéphanie Foretz Gacon is a professional female tennis player from France...
and World No. 179 Elena Baltacha
Elena Baltacha
Elena Baltacha is a British professional tennis player of Ukrainian background. Being a four-time winner of the AEGON Award, she is also the long standing British number 1, a position she has held intermittently since 2002. As of 24 November 2011 she holds a current world ranking of No. 50. Her...
before losing a three-setter in the qualifying round to World No. 117 Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn is a professional Thai tennis player. She was born in Los Angeles, United States, and turned professional in 1994. She has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubles....
. This performance was sufficient to elevate her world ranking to World No. 141, just nine places short of her career best.
A disappointing string of six successive first round losses in straight sets followed, four in events of only $25,000 calibre.
In late May, in the first round of qualifying for the French Open, she defeated World No. 96 Anne Keothavong, but this was a rare success in a bleak spell that saw her ranking plummet to World No. 232 by the middle of July as she failed to defend her several ITF tournament victories from the previous summer.
Her form then showed signs of improvement, as she won three back-to-back matches to qualify for the $175,000 WTA event at Bad Gastein in Austria before losing in the first round proper, and then after taking a month off won through qualifying into the main draw of the US Open
2008 U.S. Open (tennis)
The 2008 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 128th edition of the US Open, and the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year...
by successively defeating Jorgelina Cravero
Jorgelina Cravero
Jorgelina Cravero is a professional Argentine tennis player. In 2007 Cravero qualified for three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, losing in the opening round every time, including to Justine Henin at Wimbledon 2007. She lost to Martina Müller at the 2007 Australian Open and Aravane Rezaï at the...
, World No. 107 Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois
Stéphanie Dubois is a Canadian professional tennis player. She turned professional in 2004 and she achieved a career-best ranking of No. 95 in the world on May 26, 2008.-2004–present:...
, and World No. 137 Melanie South
Melanie South
Melanie Jayne South is an English tennis player. She is currently the British number 7 and ranked 310 in the world...
. Although she then lost to World No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova ; born June 27, 1985) is a Russian professional tennis player and as of October 10, 2011 ranked No. 21 in the WTA singles and No. 90 in the doubles ranking. Kuznetsova has appeared in four singles Grand Slam finals, winning two, and has also appeared in six doubles...
of Russia in the first round of the main draw, 6–4 6–2, her world ranking, which had fallen to No. 243, was boosted slightly to No. 223 by her successes in the qualifying tournament.
She played only two more tournaments that year, both in September. She lost in the first round of the first; but at the second, the $600,000 event at Beijing, she won through qualifying, assisted by the early retirement of her high-ranked second-round opponent World No. 41 Olga Govortsova
Olga Govortsova
Olga Govortsova is a professional Belarusian tennis player. As of May 10, 2010 her highest singles ranking on the WTA is World Number 35, which she achieved on June 23, 2008.-Career:...
, before losing an extremely close battle in the first round proper to World No. 19 Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet
Alizé Cornet is a French professional tennis player and the current French number three . She was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, and has a career-high ranking of No. 11, achieved on 16 February 2009; as of 4 July 2011 she is ranked World No. 69...
, 1–6, 6–3, 6–7. The ranking points accrued in her qualification for the main draw were sufficient for her to end the year up slightly again at World No. 212.
2009
This year she did not play in January, and as a consequence her world ranking had fallen to World No. 273 by the start of the following month.Retreating to $10,000 level ITF events after a four-month break from competitive play, she found herself reaching only the quarter-finals of the first two she entered, losing to much lower-ranked opponents, but won the third outright, defeating rising star Claire Feuerstein
Claire Feuerstein
Claire Feuerstein is an professional tennis player from France. She made her debut in professional competition in 2002, aged 16, at an ITF tournament in Les Contamines, France....
in a closely fought three-set final at Lyon, although in the fourth she then proceeded to lose heavily in the second round to fast-rising World No. 460 Elena Chalova
Elena Chalova
Elena Chalova is a professional Russian tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On November 9, 2009, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 151. Her current singles ranking is 160 as of 19 April 2010. She is currently coached by Valeri Chalov....
.
Raising her level back to $25,000 events in mid-March, she won just one match in two tournaments entered, a win over World No. 229 Stephanie Gehrlein at Tenerife, with losses to experienced opponents in World No. 134 Yvonne Meusburger
Yvonne Meusburger
Yvonne Meusburger is a tennis player from Austria. She is currently the country's third highest ranked female player. Her career high ranking is No. 60, a ranking she achieved on 19 November 2007.-Tennis career:...
and former Top 100 star Sanda Mamić
Sanda Mamic
Sanda Mamić is a professional female tennis player from Croatia.-Early career:*2001 – Reached final at ITF/Hvar-CRO*2002 – Reached final at ITF/Sopron-HUN...
following.
She did not play in April, but the month of May brought a return to form as she won her first $25,000 level event since 2007 at Nagano, Japan, although she did not have to face any player ranked in the Top 250 or indeed above her then-current ranking of World No. 262 on the way.
Zhang lost early to unheralded opponents in the next two $25,000 events she entered, but won her second of the year at the end of June in Xiamen, China, defeating World No. 196 Han Xinyun
Han Xinyun
Han Xinyun is a Chinese tennis player. Her career highest ranking is 165th in the world, which she achieved on February 1, 2010. Han had reached a WTA tour doubles final before in China were she and her partner Xu Yifan lost to the pairing of Caroline Wozniacki and Anabel Medina Garrigues. Han has...
in the semifinals on her way to the title. This success propelled her ranking back upwards to World No. 218.
In August, she was stopped at the semi-final stage of a $25,000 tournament at Quanzhou, China, by a familiar adversary in the form of World No. 165 Sophie Ferguson
Sophie Ferguson
Sophie Ferguson is an Australian professional tennis player.Ferguson's best performance at a Grand Slam tournament was at the 2005 Australian Open, where she lost in the second round to Nadia Petrova, 4–6, 6–0, 6–1...
. Her subsequent attempt to qualify for the second year in succession for the U.S. Open was stopped at the second hurdle in her second loss of the year to Yvonne Meusburger
Yvonne Meusburger
Yvonne Meusburger is a tennis player from Austria. She is currently the country's third highest ranked female player. Her career high ranking is No. 60, a ranking she achieved on 19 November 2007.-Tennis career:...
.
In September, she narrowly failed to qualify for two successive $220,000 tournaments, losing in the qualifying round at both Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
and Seoul, where Sophie Ferguson
Sophie Ferguson
Sophie Ferguson is an Australian professional tennis player.Ferguson's best performance at a Grand Slam tournament was at the 2005 Australian Open, where she lost in the second round to Nadia Petrova, 4–6, 6–0, 6–1...
once again put paid to her hopes despite this time winning two fewer games than Zhang in the match, with the final scoreline 0–6, 7–6(5), 6–3.
But a remarkable turnaround in her fortunes was just around the corner. After entering the Premier Mandatory event 2009 China Open
2009 China Open (tennis)
The 2009 China Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 11th edition of the China Open, and was part of the ATP 500 Series of the 2009 ATP Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2009 WTA Tour...
main draw as a wildcard, world ranked No. 226, she reached the 3rd round by first defeating World No. 33 Iveta Benešová
Iveta Benešová
Iveta Benešová is a professional tennis player. She began playing tennis at age of 7 and turned professional in 1998 in Prague. She has won two WTA Tour events and one Grand Slam in mixed doubles partnering with Jürgen Melzer at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.-2006–2008:In the 2006 Australian...
in straight sets, and then upsetting the current World No. 1 Dinara Safina
Dinara Safina
Dinara Mikhailovna Safina , born April 27, 1986 in Moscow, is a Russian professional tennis player of Tatar background. Safina's career high ranking is World No. 1....
in two close sets, 7–5, 7–6. These were her first two victories over any player currently ranked in the Top 75 for reasons other than the early retirement of her opponent, her first two victories over any player currently ranked in the Top 40 for any reason including the retirement of her opponent, and her first two victories over any opponent ranked higher than World No. 196 in 2009. She lost relatively comfortably in the third round to World No. 13 Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli is a French professional tennis player and the current French no. 1. She has won seven Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships....
.
In beating Safina in this tournament, Zhang also incidentally surpassed the record set by Julie Coin in her defeat of Ana Ivanović in 2008, succeeding her as the lowest-ranked player to defeat a reigning World No. 1 in a WTA main tour event in the Open era. Coin was ranked World No. 188 at the time of her defeat of Ivanović, some 38 places above Zhang at the time of her defeat of Safina.
Zhang's ranking rebounded to World No. 160 following the tournament, still 28 places short of her career high.
2010
With making the semifinals in the 2010 Guangzhou International Women's Open2010 Guangzhou International Women's Open
The 2010 Guangzhou International Women's Open was a tennis tournament on outdoor hard courts. It was the 7th edition of the Guangzhou International Women's Open, and part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2010 WTA Tour...
, she cracked into the top 100 for the first time.
Personal
Zhang is coached by Yan Fangfan. Her hobbies are eating and music. Her parents are Zhang Zhiqiang and Wang Fengqin.Doubles: 1 (1-0)
| Legend: Before 2009 | Legend: Starting in 2009 |
|---|---|
| Grand Slam Grand Slam (tennis) The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and... tournaments (0) |
|
| Olympic Gold (0) | |
| WTA Championships (0) | |
| Tier I (0) | Premier Mandatory (0) |
| Tier II (0) | Premier 5 (0) |
| Tier III (0) | Premier (0) |
| Tier IV & V (0) | International (1/0) |
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 1. | 10 October 2011 |  Osaka2011 HP Open The 2011 HP Open is a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is the third edition of the HP Open, and part of the WTA International tournaments of the 2011 WTA Tour... , Japan |
Hard | Kimiko Date Krumm |
 Vania KingVania King Vania King is a Taiwanese American female tennis player. King won both the 2010 Wimbledon Women's Doubles and 2010 US Open Women's Doubles titles with Kazakh partner Yaroslava Shvedova....  Yaroslava ShvedovaYaroslava Shvedova Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova is a Kazakhstani professional tennis player of Russian descent. She has achieved a career high ranking of No. 29 as of 21 June 2010. She has won 1 WTA singles title, 3 ITF Women's Circuit singles titles and 3 doubles titles, including the 2010 Wimbledon and US... |
7-5, 3-6, [11-9] |
ITF Circuit Finals
| $100,000 tournaments |
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
Singles: 21 (14-7)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 1. | February 13, 2006 |  ShenzhenShenzhen Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones... , China |
Hard | Ji Chunmei Ji Chunmei Ji Chunmei is a female professional Chinese tennis player.-Doubles 2 :- References :*-External links:... |
6-1, 2-6, 6-1 |
| Winner | 2. | February 20, 2006 | Shenzhen Shenzhen Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones... , China |
Hard | Chen Yanchong Chen Yanchong Chen Yanchong , is a WTA professional women's tennis player from the People's Republic of China. She was born in Hengyang, Hunan province in China.... |
6-4, 6-2 |
| Winner | 3. | May 30, 2006 | Tianjin Tianjin ' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government... , China |
Hard | Xie Yanze |
6-3, 3-6, 6-0 |
| Runner–up | 1. | June 20, 2006 |  ChangwonChangwon Changwon is a city in and the capital of Gyeongsangnam-do in South Korea. Changwon city is 8th most populous city in South Korea, with a 2010 established population of 1,089,039. It encompasses a land area of on southeastern of South Korea. The population of Southeastern part of Korea, that... , South Korea |
Hard | Chen Yanchong Chen Yanchong Chen Yanchong , is a WTA professional women's tennis player from the People's Republic of China. She was born in Hengyang, Hunan province in China.... |
6-3, 6-3 |
| Runner–up | 2. | July 16, 2006 | Chongqing Chongqing Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the... , China |
Hard |  Elena ChalovaElena Chalova Elena Chalova is a professional Russian tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On November 9, 2009, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 151. Her current singles ranking is 160 as of 19 April 2010. She is currently coached by Valeri Chalov.... |
6-3, 3-6, 6-0 |
| Winner | 4. | August 21, 2006 | Nanjing Nanjing ' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions... , China |
Hard | Xie Yanze |
6-3, 1-6, 6-4 |
| Winner | 5. | April 30, 2007 | Chengdu Chengdu Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status... , China |
Hard | Ren Jing Ren Jing Ren Jing is a Chinese professional tennis player. She reached the second round of the WTA Guangzhou event and lost in the first round as a qualifier of the WTA Tashkent tournament. Jing has won one ITF singles title and three doubles titles.... |
6-2, 6-7(5), 6-0 |
| Winner | 6. | May 7, 2007 | Chengdu Chengdu Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status... , China |
Hard | Xu Yifan |
6-2, 6-3 |
| Winner | 7. | June 6, 2007 | Changsha, China |
Hard | Regina Kulikova Regina Kulikova Regina Kulikova is a professional Russian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 65th, which she reached on May 3, 2010. Her career high in doubles is 417th, which she reached on September 28, 2009... |
6-3, 6-4 |
| Winner | 8. | June 11, 2007 | Guangzhou Guangzhou Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port... , China |
Hard | Regina Kulikova Regina Kulikova Regina Kulikova is a professional Russian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 65th, which she reached on May 3, 2010. Her career high in doubles is 417th, which she reached on September 28, 2009... |
6-3, 6-1 |
| Runner–up | 3. | June 26, 2007 | Noto Noto Noto is a city and comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily . Its located 32 km southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains and gives its name to the surrounding valley, Val di Noto... , Japan |
Carpet | Regina Kulikova Regina Kulikova Regina Kulikova is a professional Russian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 65th, which she reached on May 3, 2010. Her career high in doubles is 417th, which she reached on September 28, 2009... |
7-5, 6-1 |
| Winner | 9. | June 11, 2007 | Nagoya, Japan |
Hard | Regina Kulikova Regina Kulikova Regina Kulikova is a professional Russian tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 65th, which she reached on May 3, 2010. Her career high in doubles is 417th, which she reached on September 28, 2009... |
6-3, 6-1 |
| Runner–up | 4. | June 11, 2007 | Miyazaki Miyazaki -Names:* Aoi Miyazaki, actress* Ayumi Miyazaki, singer and songwriter* Daisuke Miyazaki, team handball player* Gorō Miyazaki, son of Hayao Miyazaki and owner of tea shop in Japan* Hayao Miyazaki, anime animator and filmmaker* Manabu Miyazaki, writer... , Japan |
Carpet | Junri Namigata Junri Namigata Junri Namigata is a Japanese professional tennis player. Her career high WTA singles ranking is 105, which she reached on February 28, 2011. Her career high doubles ranking is 109, set on April 14, 2008. U- Singles 12 :- Doubles 22 :... |
6-4, 6-2 |
| Winner | 10. | March 2, 2009 |  LyonLyon Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais.... , France |
Hard | Claire Feuerstein Claire Feuerstein Claire Feuerstein is an professional tennis player from France. She made her debut in professional competition in 2002, aged 16, at an ITF tournament in Les Contamines, France.... |
1-6, 6-1, 6-3 |
| Winner | 11. | May 18, 2009 | Nagano, Japan |
Carpet |  Nikola HofmanovaNikola Hofmanova Nikola Hofmanova is a female tennis player originally from Chomutov, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic, and now residing in Hornstein, Austria.... |
5-7, 6-2, 6-3 |
| Winner | 12. | June 6, 2007 | Xiamen Xiamen Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million... , China |
Hard | Duan Yingying |
6-2, 6-1 |
| Winner | 13. | March 1, 2010 | Hammond Hammond, Louisiana Hammond is the largest city in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 20,049 at the 2009 census. It is home to Southeastern Louisiana University... , United States |
Hard | Jamie Hampton Jamie Hampton Jamie Lee Hampton is a professional American tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On April 4, 2011, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of World No. 116. Hampton lived in Enterprise, Alabama until she was 13, when she moved to Auburn, Alabama... |
6-2, 6-1 |
| Runner–up | 5. | March 8, 2010 | Clearwater Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, US, nearly due west of Tampa and northwest of St. Petersburg. In the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and in the east lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,787. It is the county seat of... , United States |
Hard |  Johanna Larsson |
7-6(4), 6-0 |
| Runner–up | 6. | May 10, 2010 | Saint Gaudens, France |
Clay |  Kaia KanepiKaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi is an Estonian professional tennis player. Her career-high ranking is world no. 16 reached on 14 February 2011.... |
6-2, 7-5 |
| Winner | 14. | May 31, 2010 |  MariborMaribor Maribor is the second largest city in Slovenia with 157,947 inhabitants . Maribor is also the largest and the capital city of Slovenian region Lower Styria and the seat of the Municipality of Maribor.... , Slovenia |
Clay |  Laura Pous TióLaura Pous Tio Laura Pous Tio is a professional female tennis player from Spain. She won the gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games by defeating compatriot Nuria Llagostera Vives. Pous Tio reached her career high of No. 73 on the WTA tour in July 2011.-Grand Slam Singles performance timeline:-External links:... |
6-3, 3-6, 6-3 |
| Runner–up | 7. | August 2, 2010 | Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China |
Hard | Junri Namigata Junri Namigata Junri Namigata is a Japanese professional tennis player. Her career high WTA singles ranking is 105, which she reached on February 28, 2011. Her career high doubles ranking is 109, set on April 14, 2008. U- Singles 12 :- Doubles 22 :... |
7-6(3), 6-2 |
Doubles: 10 (7–3)
| Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
| Winner | 1. | July 16, 2006 | Chongqing Chongqing Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the... , China |
Hard | Ren Jie Ren Jie Ren Jie is a female Chinese sports shooter who competed in 10 metre air pistol at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. She reached the 2004 final and finished fourth.-Olympic results:-Records:... |
Ji Chunmei Ji Chunmei Ji Chunmei is a female professional Chinese tennis player.-Doubles 2 :- References :*-External links:... Sun ShengnanSun Shengnan Sun Shengnan is a Chinese female tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 233rd, which she reached on May 28, 2007. Her career high in doubles is 50th, which she reached on September 17, 2007.... |
6-4, 6-3 |
| Winner | 2. | July 26, 2006 | Chengdu Chengdu Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status... , China |
Hard | Ren Jie Ren Jie Ren Jie is a female Chinese sports shooter who competed in 10 metre air pistol at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. She reached the 2004 final and finished fourth.-Olympic results:-Records:... |
Xia Huan Xu Yifan |
6-4, 6-2 |
| Winner | 3. | July 10, 2007 | Miyazaki Miyazaki -Names:* Aoi Miyazaki, actress* Ayumi Miyazaki, singer and songwriter* Daisuke Miyazaki, team handball player* Gorō Miyazaki, son of Hayao Miyazaki and owner of tea shop in Japan* Hayao Miyazaki, anime animator and filmmaker* Manabu Miyazaki, writer... , Japan |
Carpet | Zhao Yijing Zhao Yijing Zhao Yijing is a professional Chinese tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On June 9, 2008, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 331... |
Natsumi Hamamura Ayaka Maekawa |
6-4, 6-4 |
| Runner–up | 1. | November 5, 2007 | Taizou, China |
Hard | Ren Jie Ren Jie Ren Jie is a female Chinese sports shooter who competed in 10 metre air pistol at the 2000 Summer Olympics, the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics. She reached the 2004 final and finished fourth.-Olympic results:-Records:... |
Ji Chunmei Ji Chunmei Ji Chunmei is a female professional Chinese tennis player.-Doubles 2 :- References :*-External links:... Sun ShengnanSun Shengnan Sun Shengnan is a Chinese female tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 233rd, which she reached on May 28, 2007. Her career high in doubles is 50th, which she reached on September 17, 2007.... |
7-6(5), 1-6, [13-11] |
| Runner–up | 2. | February 9, 2009 | Jiangmen Jiangmen Jiangmen , is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong province in southern China with a population of about 4.48 million in 2010. The 3 urban districts are now part of Guangzhou - Shenzhen built up area.-Names:... , China |
Hard | Xie Yanze |
Hao Jie Hao Jie Hao Jie is a Chinese professional tennis player. She has numerous women's tennis titles in both singles and doubles. Her career high singles ranking is No.329, achieved on 21 May 2007. Her career high doubles ranking is No.307, achieved on 1 November 2004. As of 11 October 2011, she is ranked...  Kao Shao-yuan |
6-0, 7-5 |
| Runner–up | 3. | March 2, 2009 | Lyon Lyon Lyon , is a city in east-central France in the Rhône-Alpes region, situated between Paris and Marseille. Lyon is located at from Paris, from Marseille, from Geneva, from Turin, and from Barcelona. The residents of the city are called Lyonnais.... , France |
Hard |  Pemra OzgenPemra Özgen Pemra Özgen is a Turkish tennis player.-Career:Özgen had begun her career at the age of 8 when she was emulating her friends to play tennis in 1994. She kept training at İstanbul based clubs; respectively at Taçspor Kulübü and Dağcılık Tenis Spor Kulübü. She had been invloved in tournaments at... |
Lu Jingjing Lu Jingjing Lu Jingjing is a Chinese professional tennis player.- Singles: 7 :-Doubles: 18 :-References:... Sun ShengnanSun Shengnan Sun Shengnan is a Chinese female tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 233rd, which she reached on May 28, 2007. Her career high in doubles is 50th, which she reached on September 17, 2007.... |
6-4, 7-5 |
| Winner | 4. | March 16, 2009 | Tenerife Tenerife Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the... , Spain |
Hard | Sun Shengnan Sun Shengnan Sun Shengnan is a Chinese female tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 233rd, which she reached on May 28, 2007. Her career high in doubles is 50th, which she reached on September 17, 2007.... |
Paula Fondevila Castro Laura Thorpe Laura Thorpe Laura Thorpe is a French professional tennis player. As of September 13, 2010, she reached her highest single rankings of World number 165.-External links:... |
6-1, 6-2 |
| Winner | 5. | June 1, 2009 | Komoro Komoró Komoró is a village in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg county, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary.-Geography:It covers an area of and has a population of 1415 people .... , Japan |
Clay | Xu Yifan |
Ayumi Oka Ayumi Oka Ayumi Oka is a Japanese actress.-External links:...  Varatchaya WongteanchaiVaratchaya Wongteanchai Varatchaya Wongteanchai is a professional Thai tennis player playing in the ITF Women's Circuit. On August 8, 2011, she reached her highest WTA singles ranking of 274. On August 15, 2011, she also reached her highest WTA doubles ranking of 193. She is coached by Singkorn Wongteanchai.-External links:... |
6-1, 6-2 |
| Winner | 6. | August 2, 2010 | Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China |
Hard | Sun Shengnan Sun Shengnan Sun Shengnan is a Chinese female tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 233rd, which she reached on May 28, 2007. Her career high in doubles is 50th, which she reached on September 17, 2007.... |
Ji Chunmei Ji Chunmei Ji Chunmei is a female professional Chinese tennis player.-Doubles 2 :- References :*-External links:... Liu Wanting |
4-6, 6-2, 6-4 |
| Winner | 7. | May 30, 2011 |  NottinghamNottingham Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group... , Great Britain |
Grass | Kimiko Date Krumm |
Raquel Kops-Jones Raquel Kops-Jones Raquel Kops-Jones is a professional tennis player from the United States of America. She made her debut in professional competition in 2000, aged 17, at an ITF tournament in Boca Raton.... Abigail SpearsAbigail Spears Abigail Michal Spears is an American professional tennis player.Spears turned professional in 2000. Spears has reached the third round at the 2005 Australian Open, and the first round at the 2005 French Open, 2005 Wimbledon tournament and the 2005 U.S. Open... |
6-4, 7-6(7) |
Singles performance timeline
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | SR | W–L | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slams | ||||||||||||||
| Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | A | A | A | Q1 | Q3 | A | Q1 | 1R | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | |||
| French Open | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | A | 1R | 1R | 0 / 3 | 4–3 | |||
| Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | Q2 | 1R | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | |||
| US Open | A | A | A | A | Q2 | 1R | Q2 | Q2 | 1R | 0 / 4 | 6–4 | |||
| Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 6–3 | 1–1 | 5–4 | 0–2 | 0 / 12 | 13–12 | |||
| Year-End ranking | – | 901 | 648 | 200 | 149 | 212 | 153 | 91 | ||||||