China's tennis ace Zheng Jie made history yesterday by rising to 15th in the newly released Sony Ecrisson WTA world rankings, breaking the previous record of 16th set by compatriot Li Na in Jan 2007.
Zheng, 16th on the previous rankings, was stopped by French veteran Amelie Mauresmo in the second round of the Madrid Open last week.
However, Mauresmo and Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, both just beneath Zheng in the rankings, failed to advance to the semifinals and earn enough points to surpass Zheng, who leapfrogged Alize Cornet of France, who drops from 15th to 20th.
Zheng said setting a record for China in the rankings was not her biggest career goal but that achieving it had helped her look ahead.
"You will never be a great player without ambition," she said. "The record is not only a surprise to others, but has also provided a new challenge for myself. It will be a brand-new start."
By advancing to the semifinal at Wimbledon last year and eliminating three top 16 players, including top seed Ana Ivanovic, the 26-year-old registered the best ever Grand Slam performance by a Chinese player and earned invaluable 900 points.
Zheng was scheduled to play Olga Govortsova of Belarus in the first round of the Warsaw Open starting yesterday.
Factbox of Zheng Jie
Country: People's Republic of China
Residence: Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
Date of birth: 5 July 1983 (1983-07-05)
Place of birth: Chengdu, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
Height: 1.64 m
Weight: 57 kg
Turned pro: 16 January 2003
Plays: right; two-handed backhand
Career prize: US $2,432,018
Singles
Career record: 253β143
Career titles: 3 WTA, 4 ITF
Highest ranking: No. 15 (18 May 2009)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open 4R (2009)
French Open 4R (2004)
Wimbledon SF (2008)
US Open 3R (2008)
Doubles
Career record: 268β110
Career titles: 11 WTA, 16 ITF
Highest ranking: No. 3 (10 July 2006)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open W (2006)
French Open SF (2006)
Wimbledon W (2006)
US Open QF (2005, 2006, 2008)
(China Daily May 19, 2009)
