Red-hot women prepare for tough Fed Cup tie with France
China's women's tennis players have a chance to write a new chapter in the country's sports history as they prepare to take on France in the Fed Cup World Group I in Beijing this weekend.
The sizzling squad will look to turn the patriotic feelings ignited at Melbourne Park in the past couple weeks into its first-ever semifinal berth at the elite tournament.
"Both fans and players are excited about the competitions this weekend because they are a great chance for us to move further up in the Fed Cup," said Gao Shenyang, vice-president of the Chinese Administrative Center of Tennis. "We will field our best players and try to enter the semifinals."
China's top singles' player Li Na, Peng Shuai, doubles aces Zheng Jie and Yan Zi, and Sun Tiantian, who just won the mixed-doubles title with Serbian Nenad Zimonjic at the Australian Open, are preparing for the matches at the Beijing International Tennis Center this week. The final roster will be announced on Friday.
France will be without its top three players: Marion Bartoli, Tatiana Golovin and Amelie Mauresmo. But France's coach Georges Goven hopes the recent form of world No 27 Virginie Razzano, who has won 24 of her past 29 matches on Tour, can fill the gap.
Razzano will be joined by 17-year-old Alize Cornet, at No 58, veteran Nathalie Dechy, No 65, and national team newcomer Pauline Parmentier.
"It is tough to play without my best players, but it doesn't mean we don't have the chance to win the tie," said Goven. "Our girls played great tennis over the past months and they are confident about the competitions ahead."
Despite the absence of several of its leading players, France's impressive Fed Cup record makes it a tough team to overcome - France was champion in 1997 and 2003 and is the only nation never to have been relegated from the top tier of the World Group.
Chinese players had an encouraging showing at the Australian Open last week as Li, returning from a rib injury which sidelined her for seven months last year, entered the fourth round and Zheng and Yan also bounced back to make it into the semifinals.
Zheng warned that France was not an easy opponent.
"I have to make sure I am 100 percent concentrated on the games this weekend, otherwise there is no chance for us to beat them," she said. "Just take a look at their experience at the Fed Cup. You'd know they are always one of the best teams in the world.
"Razzano has played some great tennis recently, I think she is the most dangerous player on their team."
Chinese officials said the women's team will strive for medals in both singles and doubles events at the Olympics. To realize this goal, the women will only play Tier I and II events this year alongside the Fed Cup and will very likely skip the whole clay court season to focus on closed-door training the month before the Games.
China Daily
(China Daily 01/31/2008 page23)
