Zhang Shuai has become just the fifth Chinese player to win a WTA singles title. Li Na has eight titles, Zheng Jie has four, Yan Zi and Sun Tiantian each have one, and now Zhang joins that elite group after a 7-6, 6-1 win over American Vania King in the final of the Guangzhou Open. Interestingly, Peng Shuai has never won a WTA singles title despite having been as high as 14 in the world rankings.
Tag Archives: Tennis
Li Na to face Novak Djokovic in Beijing
While it will likely have none of the animosity of that famous showdown between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs (which, incidentally, was 40 years ago this week), Beijing will stage its own Battle of the Sexes on Friday September 27 when women’s world no. 5 Li Na will play men’s world no. 1 Novak Djokovic at the National Tennis Center in northern Beijing to mark the 10th anniversary of the China Open.
Li Na gets waxed
No, we’re not talking about a Brazilian here. Chinese tennis superstar Li Na recently unveiled a wax statue of herself at the Madame Tussauds museum in her hometown of Wuhan, ahead of the museum’s official opening on September 28. Li Na is to Wuhan what pandas are to Chengdu so a statue of her was a must, especially since the WTA Tour will visit Wuhan for the first time in September 2014. The likeness is…well…interesting.
Judge for yourself here: Continue reading Li Na gets waxed
Medal tally, scandals turn China’s National Games into a joke
The far northeastern province of Heilongjiang came into China’s National Games with 43 medals already in the bank. Yes, you read that right. 17 gold medals were “won” before the official start of the Games, and only one of those was due to an event being scheduled ahead of the opening ceremony. That’s because some bright spark had the idea of converting medals from previous events into medals that actually count at the National Games:
Continue reading Medal tally, scandals turn China’s National Games into a joke
Li Na faces toughest test of her career
Li Na has just made it though to her first ever US Open semifinal, with a 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 victory over the 24th seed Ekatarina Makarova from Russia. It also means a Chinese woman has reached at least the semifinals in all four Grand Slam tournaments (after Li and Zheng Jie in Australia, Li at Roland Garros, and Zheng at Wimbledon). The result should finally consign last week’s drugs “scandal” to history.
But now the real fun begins.
Li Na slams drugs talk with straight sets win
Apologies for the infrequent posts over the last month. I visited a total of seven countries in August, and I’m also in the process of moving server and relaunching the site.
- Textbook sponsorship placements. Photo credit: AP
Li Na marches on at the US Open with a 6-3, 6-0 win over 9th seed Jelena Jankovic to reach the quarter-finals and match her best ever performance at Flushing Meadows. Too bad the conversation has focused on everything other than the tennis in recent days. But as every tabloid journalist knows, never let the truth get in the way of a good story. Here is today’s Sports Talk column:
Continue reading Li Na slams drugs talk with straight sets win
Tiger Woods: best player never to win a major (again)?
Tiger Woods and Ye Shiwen might make an unlikely couple, but both are prime examples of athletes who have lost their sporting mojos. This week’s Sports Talk column looks at why athletes struggle to get back to their top of their game after losing form:
We tend to think of sports as being a purely physical pursuit, but at the very top levels, it’s far more about mental strength than anything the body can do. Just as a novelist can get writer’s block and be paralyzed for months, once an athlete loses their sporting mojo, it can be very hard to retrieve.
Continue reading Tiger Woods: best player never to win a major (again)?
Why you should never strive for perfection
I’ve just spent a few days in Korea, where the country’s female golfers are perhaps as dominant on the world stage as any team in sports today. Comparing different teams in different sports brings to mind apples and oranges, but 35 of the world top 100 players are from a country with a population of under 50 million. South Koreans have won six of the past eight major championships, and came second in the other two.
What do they get for this? “Boring”, “faceless”, “robots”, “predictable” etc. Inbee Park has won three majors this year and gets fewer column inches than Hunter Mahan’s new baby. Today’s Sports Talk column looks at why sports stars might be better off striving for one level below perfection: become perfect and the fans and media will turn on you – or worse – just ignore you.
Li Na sick of questions with Chinese characteristics
There have been many column inches devoted to Li Na’s temper over the past few weeks, both in the Chinese and foreign press. Prize to the most bizarre line goes to this LA Times piece which contains this gem:
In sports where performance calls for swift reactions — like tennis and soccer — China’s teams have typically struggled.
Whaaaaaat? Er, table tennis anyone? Soccer occasionally calls for quick reactions (as does almost any sport), but to suggest that China is bad at soccer because their players cannot repeat and learn a move again and again is just, well, bizarre.
Continue reading Li Na sick of questions with Chinese characteristics
Wimbledon win sparks Taiwan-China controversy [UPDATED]
The big news from the tennis world this weekend was not, of course, Andy Murray becoming Britain’s first winner of the men’s Wimbledon title for 77 years, but China’s Peng Shuai teaming up with Hsieh Su-wei from Taiwan to win the women’s doubles title. Taiwanese media pointed out that President Ma Ying-jeou, Vice President Wu Den-yih, Premier Jiang Yi-huah and Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling all sent Hsieh congratulatory telegrams (telegrams?? in 2013??).
Continue reading Wimbledon win sparks Taiwan-China controversy [UPDATED]