Players aiming for their maiden championship title this year: Part Six – Tennis Special
Field of athletics has been always dominated by the Chinese competitors and only few competitors from the country have made their name on the tennis courts. The Chinese number one tennis player, Li Na, has stamped her authority
over the women’s tennis by winning the Roland Garros French Open in 2011 and reaching the world number five spot in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Rankings. Li was the first Chinese ever to lift a Grand Slam trophy and her mammoth success in
the sport have induced great thrill in other female compatriots.
The world number 31, Zheng Jie, is the other Chinese player who has bagged four singles championship titles representing her country. However, there are a number of younger prospects in Chinese tennis which are labouring extremely
hard to earn lime light. Despite of being highly talented and hard working, some players in women’s tennis are still looking for their maiden WTA championship title in the 2012 season.
Shuai Peng
Chinese number two, Shuai Peng, is one of the fastest rising tennis players since the last couple of years in WTA. The 26-year-old right-hander has been in the professional circuit for a long time now but the crafty Chinese is
still struggling to enter the winners’ circle. She had been successful in making into the Top-20 in WTA but hasn’t got his hands on a championship trophy.
Peng has nine ITF (International Tennis Federation) and seven WTA doubles titles under her belt but her performances at the elite platforms have not been outstanding ones. She has 314-184 win-loss record over her career and has
already registered six victories in 2012 season at the expense of seven losses.
Peng broke into the top-40 in 2008 but her inconsistent performance at the WTA Tour dropped her to number 72 by the end of 2010 season. The Chinese uplifted her game once again and pulled up some eye startling performances in the
2011 WTA season to reach the number 17 spot by the season end.
She took off her 2011 campaign from Auckland and reached the semi-final round, only to be defeated by Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. She had another successive semi-final run in Hobart but failed again to earn a title shot. Her remarkable
voyage at the Australian Open Grand Slam lasted till the fourth round, where she was dumped by Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, followed by another quarter-final appearance in PTT Pattaya Open.
Peng was also the quarter-finalist in mega events in Doha and Indian Wells, before reaching the semis of another tournament in Charleston. She was defeated by Elena Vesnina but her consistent performances with the racquet propelled
her to the number 30th spot in the women’s rankings. She eventually had a title shot in Brussels but was outdone by the then world number one, Caroline Wozniacki in the final to maintain her title drought.
A couple of more quarter-final appearances were witnessed from Peng by the end of the season but she hasn’t been in her finest form this year. She has been suffering early round exits from most of the tournaments, except in BMW
Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, where she lost in the quarter-final round.
No doubt the Chinese is immensely talented and has all the firepower to take down any top class competitor on her day but her habit of getting choked out in the big matches is letting her down badly. It is anticipated that she
will finally end her long title drought this season and let’s hope she really does it this time round.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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