It may seem premature to make comparisons to China’s most famous tennis star, but in a clear parallel to the “Fly Alone” initiative, when Li Na, Zheng Jie, Peng Shuai and Yan Zi quit the state-controlled tennis system five years ago and forged out on their own, Zhang did exactly that just two months, when she hired her own coach Liu Shuo. Here’s her take:
Well, so far the 24-year-old is off to a good start, banking $112,080 for her efforts this week, despite entering the tournament as a wildcard. She didn’t lose a set all week and will now climb to 74 in the world rankings, realizing this blog’s prediction that more Chinese players would break into the top 100 this year.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Guangzhou has been a happy hunting ground for Chinese players since the inaugural tournament in 2004. Li Na won her first ever WTA singles title there that year, Yan Zi won her only WTA singles title there in 2005, and Zhang Shuai won the doubles title last year, before her singles victory this year.
The WTA official site has a nice quote from Zhang about how the power of self belief helped her win that maiden title:
Zhang now needs to build on this, but will be ecstatic about making what must have been a very difficult decision to break free from the comforts of the state system. And as we’ve seen in other sports, the more your fellow countrymen and women start to win, the more it gives belief to others that they, too, can make the breakthrough.
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