Zheng Jie was born on 5 July 1983 and is a retired Chinese tennis player.
105 Facts About Zheng Jie
2.
Zheng Jie won 15 doubles titles, eleven of them with Yan Zi, including Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006.
3.
Zheng Jie won the bronze medal in doubles with Yan Zi at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
4.
Zheng Jie reached the singles semifinals at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, where she defeated world No 1 Ana Ivanovic in the process, becoming the first Chinese female player to advance to the semifinals at a Grand Slam.
5.
Zheng Jie graduated from the Sichuan Sports Academy in June 2000.
6.
Zheng Jie donated her winnings to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in her native province.
7.
Zheng Jie was coached by Jiang Hong Wei, China's national women's team head coach, but she was later coached by her husband Zhang Yu, who was her hitting partner.
8.
Zheng Jie is on the advisory staff of Yonex and uses their rackets.
9.
Zheng Jie was wearing clothing by Anta and appeared in their advertising campaigns, and she is a Rolex testimonee together with Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic.
10.
Zheng Jie started playing tennis when she was ten, after she had seen her older sister play and thought tennis would be good exercise.
11.
Zheng Jie was rather small, and she and her parents were afraid that she would not have a career in the tennis world.
12.
Zheng Jie keeps in a small vial pieces of her ankle bone that were removed during the ankle surgery of 2007.
13.
Zheng Jie says, she keeps it because it is a part of her, and that it makes her cherish being able to play tennis again and life in general.
14.
Zheng Jie says that although it made her world ranking plunge, it made her grow up a lot.
15.
Zheng Jie talked about how it protected her in times of injury and when she was not playing well, for the CTA would back her completely and give her medical support.
16.
Zheng Jie's game is characterised by consistency, intellect, quick reflexes and fighting spirit.
17.
Zheng Jie is not the strongest player, but makes up for this with her careful thinking of where to place her shots and willingness to change game plans if a strategy is not working.
18.
Zheng Jie's shots are of a lot of pace and very well placed, making Zheng an excellent defensive counterpuncher.
19.
Zheng Jie has one of the best footwork and court coverage on the tour, which allows her to keep shots in play that would normally be winners; so few shots get by her that after the final match of Hobart International in 2005, the finalist Gisela Dulko described her game as 'The Great Wall of China' because 'she didn't miss one ball'.
20.
Zheng Jie then defeated Flavia Pennetta in the first round of the main draw before bowing out to Tamarine Tanasugarn.
21.
Consequently, Zheng Jie broke into the world top 100, with a year-end ranking of 93.
22.
Zheng Jie reached the quarterfinals at Hyderabad and Doha, and the second round at Miami and Vienna.
23.
Zheng Jie was the first Chinese woman to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam event.
24.
Zheng Jie later made it to the finals in a $50k tournament in Shenzhen, before losing to fellow countrywomen Peng Shuai.
25.
Zheng Jie started 2005 by capturing her first WTA Tour singles title at Hobart, after wins over Mariana Diaz Oliva, Shinobu Asagoe, Klara Koukalova, Li Na and Gisela Dulko.
26.
In Strasbourg, Zheng Jie displayed yet reached the quarterfinals where she lost to second-seeded Czech Nicole Vaidisova.
27.
Zheng Jie ended up winning the gold medal, with victories over Shikha Uberoi, Chan Yung-jan, Aiko Nakamura, and Sania Mirza.
28.
At the Australian Open, Zheng Jie put in an extremely disappointing performance, losing to then 97th ranked Julia Schruff of Germany, after holding match point on more than one occasion.
29.
Zheng Jie competed in both the singles and doubles of the French Open.
30.
Zheng Jie was knocked out in the first round of the singles competition by Timea Bacsinszky, and lost in the first round in the doubles portion.
31.
Zheng Jie withdrew from all events for the rest of the year because of the ankle injury.
32.
Zheng Jie's ranking suffered as a result, ending the year ranked world No 163.
33.
Zheng Jie then beat Agnes Szavay of Hungary, the 15th seed, in the fourth round, and 18th-seeded Nicole Vaidisova in the quarterfinals.
34.
Zheng Jie became the first wildcard to reach the semifinals of the women's singles at Wimbledon.
35.
Zheng Jie did the same with her French Open prize money earlier in the year.
36.
Zheng Jie had better results in doubles with her partner Yan Zi, where they were seeded eighth.
37.
In March 2009, Zheng Jie was awarded the WTA Tour "Comeback of the Year" award for 2008, as she rebounded from an injury-marred 2007.
38.
Zheng Jie returned to at the Dubai Championships, and made it to the third round before losing to world No 1, Serena Williams.
39.
At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Zheng Jie lost to world No 1, Dinara Safina, in three sets.
40.
At the Madrid Open, Zheng Jie fell to Amelie Mauresmo in the second round.
41.
At the French Open, Zheng Jie progressed to the second round before losing Michelle Larcher de Brito in straight sets.
42.
At the Birmingham Classic, the first tournament on grass, Zheng Jie was the top seed but lost to the eventual champion Magdalena Rybarikova in the third round.
43.
At the US Open, Zheng Jie, who was seeded 21, advanced to the third round before losing in straight sets to the No 13 seed, Nadia Petrova.
44.
Zheng Jie began her season at the Hobart International, where she made it to the quarterfinals before losing to the eventual tournament champion Alona Bondarenko.
45.
Zheng Jie was unseeded at the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year.
46.
Zheng Jie next competed at the Dubai Championships as the 16th seed, but was upset in the first round by Alicia Molik in three sets.
47.
However, Zheng Jie won the doubles title at the event with Chan Yung-jan, defeating Anastasia and Arina Rodionova in a championship tie-break.
48.
Zheng Jie next competed at the Indian Wells Open, where she was seeded 18th.
49.
At the Sony Ericsson Open, Zheng Jie lost in her second-round match to Virginie Razzano.
50.
Zheng Jie was seeded fifth at the Warsaw Open, where she reached the final losing to the defending champion, Alexandra Dulgheru.
51.
At the French Open, Zheng Jie was seeded 26th and reached the second round before losing to Anastasia Pivovarova.
52.
Zheng Jie began her grass-court season at Eastbourne, where she was unseeded.
53.
Zheng Jie lost in the second round to British wildcard Elena Baltacha.
54.
At the Stanford Classic, Zheng Jie she was defeated by Maria Sharapova in the first round.
55.
At her next tournament in San Diego, Zheng Jie reached the second round before losing to Daniela Hantuchova.
56.
In consolation, Zheng Jie partnered with Maria Kirilenko to win her second doubles title of the year, defeating second seeded Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs in the final.
57.
Zheng Jie next competed at the US Open in singles and doubles.
58.
Zheng Jie was scheduled to compete at the Hong Kong Classic exhibition tournament in Team Asia-Pacific alongside Li Na and Mark Philippoussis, as well as competing as the third seed at the Hobart International.
59.
Zheng Jie hadn't rehabilitated from her wrist injury sufficiently, and withdrew from both tournaments, as well as the Australian Open, where she was a semifinalist in 2010.
60.
Zheng Jie made a return to the tour at the Pattaya Open in Thailand.
61.
Zheng Jie was seeded seventh but was defeated by Akgul Amanmuradova in the first round, in two sets.
62.
At the Qatar Open, Zheng Jie lost to Flavia Pennetta in straight sets.
63.
Zheng Jie next played at the Indian Wells Open, where she was a quarterfinalist in 2010.
64.
Zheng Jie then competed at the Estoril Open as the seventh seed.
65.
Zheng Jie then played in a qualification tournament for the first time since 2008 at the Italian Open, as the second seed.
66.
However, Zheng Jie reached the main draw as a lucky loser, but lost to the wildcard Alberta Brianti in two sets.
67.
Zheng Jie partnered Peng Shuai in doubles, losing in the second round.
68.
Zheng Jie then played at Eastbourne, qualifying for the main draw by beating Ayumi Morita, Edina Gallovits-Hall, and finally Melanie Oudin.
69.
Zheng Jie began her campaign at the US Open Series at the Washington Open, however she was beaten in the first round by Jill Craybas in three sets.
70.
Zheng Jie next entered the qualification tournament for the Rogers Cup.
71.
At the US Open, Zheng Jie overcame Vitalia Diatchenko in the first round before losing in three sets to Andrea Petkovic.
72.
Zheng Jie played a tournament in her native China for the first time in two years at the Guangzhou International Open, where she was unseeded.
73.
Zheng Jie defeated sixth seeded Alberta Brianti, Noppawan Lertcheewakarn and fourth seeded Petra Martic before losing to Magdalena Rybarikova in the semifinals.
74.
Zheng Jie played next at the Pan Pacific Open in Japan, where she fell to qualifier CoCo Vandeweghe after a tough three-setter in the first round.
75.
Zheng Jie played her final event of the season at the Osaka Open.
76.
Zheng Jie later lost to top-seeded Samantha Stosur in the semifinals, in three sets.
77.
At the beginning of the 2012 season, Zheng Jie switched her racquet to the new Yonex EZONE Xi 98 model.
78.
Zheng Jie began the season by winning the Auckland Open, her first WTA singles title since 2006.
79.
Zheng Jie was scheduled to play at the Hobart International, but withdrew due to a right thigh injury.
80.
At the Australian Open, Zheng Jie reached the fourth round, where she was beaten by Sara Errani, with straight sets wins over Madison Keys, Roberta Vinci and top-10 ranked Marion Bartoli.
81.
Zheng Jie had a disappointing run of results following the Australian Open, failing to win a match until the Indian Wells Open where she handily defeated Michaella Krajicek having received a first-round bye.
82.
Zheng Jie then lost in the first round of Madrid, Rome and Brussels to Maria Kirilenko, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Rus, respectively.
83.
At the French Open, Zheng Jie was seeded 31st, and lost in the second round to Aleksandra Wozniak.
84.
Zheng Jie chose to begin the grass-court season in Birmingham, however as she registered late she was forced to qualify for the main draw, which she did by beating both Natalie Grandin and Sandra Zaniewska.
85.
Zheng Jie won three matches to reach the quarter-finals, where she defeated fourth-seeded Roberta Vinci in a three set match hampered by multiple rain delays.
86.
At Wimbledon, Zheng Jie entered both ladies' singles and ladies' doubles, partnering with compatriot Peng Shuai.
87.
In round two, Zheng Jie avenged her French Open defeat by Wozniak, another unseeded Canadian, in straight sets.
88.
In doubles, Zheng Jie decided to partner with Katarina Srebotnik, however they lost in the first round.
89.
Zheng Jie was the second seed in Guangzhou, but lost in the second round to Laura Robson.
90.
In Osaka Zheng Jie was seeded second, but lost to Pauline Parmentier in the second round.
91.
Zheng Jie lost her matches to Petrova and Pironkova, and retired while down in the first set against Sofia Arvidsson, Kirilenko's replacement.
92.
Zheng Jie's year began in Auckland in a bid to defend her title at Auckland.
93.
At the Australian Open, Zheng Jie reached the third round after another win over Stosur, but she then lost in three sets to Germany's Julia Gorges.
94.
Zheng Jie began the clay-court season with early losses in Madrid and Rome, to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Li Na respectively.
95.
Zheng Jie's fortunes changed at the Brussels Open, where she defeated Caroline Wozniacki before losing in the quarterfinals to Romina Oprandi.
96.
At the French Open, Zheng Jie reached the third round for the first time since 2008, but lost to Maria Sharapova in straight sets.
97.
Zheng Jie did not play any warm-up events during the grass-court season, instead electing to play her first match on the surface at Wimbledon, where she lost in the first round to Caroline Garcia.
98.
At the US Open, in the second round, Zheng Jie played in what would become one of the longest US Open women's matches in history lasting more than three hours.
99.
Zheng Jie wore down Venus Williams with powerful returns and impressive endurance, eventually winning a third-set tiebreaker to take the match, but she then lost to Carla Suarez Navarro in the third round.
100.
Zheng Jie started the year by losing early in Shenzhen and Hobart.
101.
Zheng Jie defeated Annika Beck in the first round of the Wimbledon Championships but was then beaten by 11th seed Ana Ivanovic.
102.
Zheng Jie played just five tournaments after Wimbledon, highlighted by a first-round loss to Peng Shuai at the US Open and a quarterfinal run in Hong Kong.
103.
Zheng Jie played just one singles match in 2015, a first-round loss at the Australian Open to Chang Kai-chen.
104.
Zheng Jie played six further doubles events in 2015, losing in the third round of the French Open, the final at Eastbourne and the first round at Wimbledon.
105.
Zheng Jie has not participated in any professional tennis matches since the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and, as a result, no longer holds a professional ranking in singles or doubles.