Tennis team back to full strength

The injuries and endless losses are gone. China's women's tennis players are ready to make the last-minute sprint towards the Beijing Olympics, and with only 10 months to go, it's about time.

The national team finally bid farewell to 2007, an abnormally unlucky year which saw the team's top players injured as the losses piled up. Now healthy and more motivated than ever, the team starts its winter training camp in Jiangmen, Guangdong Province this week.

"We have had a lot of bad luck, but now it's time to end it and take the last charge to the Olympics," said Gao Shenyang, vice-director of the Tennis Administrative Center, tennis's governing body in China.

"Constant injuries have stopped us from climbing up on the WTA Tour and have caused everybody a lot of trouble," he said. "But there is a positive side: Our players have learned how punishing it is to compete on the tour, and after suffering all the injuries they are supposed to have, our players are set to sprint to the Olympics without trouble."

It was a bad year for Chinese players, who had made significant progress as underdogs in 2004, surprising everyone by winning gold at the Athens Games.

But two-time Grand Slam women's doubles winner Zheng Jie and current Chinese female No 1 Li Na both missed half of the 2007 season with injuries, and without its leading stars the rest of the team could not keep up last year's momentum.

The 24-year-old Zheng, who partnered with Yan Zi to win the women's doubles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006, injured her left ankle in Roland Garros this year and hasn't taken the court since.

At the same time, 26-year-old Li - the first Chinese woman ever to make the final eight at a Grand Slam event - is in Germany recovering from an inflammation in her ribs. The former world No 20 has not touched a racquet since the WTA grass event in Birmingham this summer.

Gao confirmed the duo has fully recovered and will join the national training camp this week.

"Li Na and Zheng Jie won't miss this important event after being sidelined for such a long time. I guaranteed that they have recovered well enough from their injuries," he said.

"Zheng is recovering well from surgery and she has resumed practice, but some of the aggressive play is still beyond her ability, mostly due to mental fears," said Gao. "Everything is under control."

Gao said he is "positive" that Zheng and Li will return to professional tennis by January to play in the Australian Open.

The injuries have cost China quite a lot in the rankings - Li has dropped to world No 30 while Zheng is ranked 163rd. Gao said the team will make every effort to avoid further injury to its stars.

"We will be more concerned with opportunities for injury by conducting unique training methods on them," he said. "For the training session, we have also brought in a contingent of researchers and doctors, who will be in charge of studying and making suggestions to our coaches and players, hoping to improve their performances with fewer injuries."

Team head coach Jiang Hongwei believes the setback will ultimately help the team in the future.

"The season has been a lesson for me," Jiang said. "I didn't expect we'd fall in so abruptly. We were always very lucky in past years. We came from nowhere to win big tournaments; we played without injuries and in good form.

"But now I realize we cannot rely on luck like that, we have to go through some tough moments. Otherwise, our Olympic dream will be at stake."

Li, who is planning to return to the pro tour before the Australian Open in January, echoed Jiang's point of view, saying she has improved herself mentally during her days off the court.

"I became a better player after the six-month absence," she said. "I am a calm women right now and I will take my future challenges with a stronger heart."

The winter training session is not exclusively for top players. It will also be open to youngsters who are on the verge of success.

Zhou Yimiao, the women's singles champion of the Good Luck Beijing ITF Challenge, and men's player Bai Yan have been recruited this time.

"They have been enlisted to the national team and will of course train with the first-line team in Jiangmen, that would be a helpful experience for them to boost in future, like in the London Olympics," Gao said.

(China Daily 11/07/2007 page22)