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54-617: Estoril Open may refer to: Portugal Open , a tennis tournament held in Oeiras, Portugal, from 1990 to 2014 Estoril Open (tennis) , a new tennis tournament held in Cascais, Portugal, which replaced the Portugal Open in 2015 Estoril Open (golf) , a golf tournament held in 1999 Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

108-612: A 28–22 singles record and she finished the year ranked world No. 36. Zheng began her season at the Hobart International, where she made it to the quarterfinals, before losing to the eventual tournament champion Alona Bondarenko. Zheng was unseeded at the Australian Open . After three-set wins over Peng Shuai, María José Martínez Sánchez and Marion Bartoli, as well as a straight sets fourth-round win over Alona Bondarenko, Zheng made Australian open history by becoming

162-558: A different job. However, her foreign coach saw potential in her, and told her parents and her something along the lines of, "There are many people in China who read books, but there are few who are national heroes." After that, her parents agreed to allow her to pursue tennis as a profession. Nearly a year after the Sichuan earthquake that shook her home province, she visited there and brought with her tennis balls and rackets to distribute to

216-526: A first-round loss in Indian Wells, her 2006 singles breakthrough came at Key Biscayne where she reached the quarterfinals with wins over Nathalie Dechy and Anna-Lena Grönefeld before falling to Tatiana Golovin . Zheng's newfound confidence earned a title at her next tournament in Estoril, where she defeated top-seeded Flavia Pennetta en route to the final before a victory over compatriot Li Na who

270-466: A love set against Mary Pierce in the main-draw first round, only to lose the match in three sets. She also qualified for Doha , but then lost to Lina Krasnoroutskaya . Later in the year, she defeated Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round of a $ 25k tournament, Alona Bondarenko in the first round of qualifying for Palermo , and Maria Elena Camerin at another $ 50k event in July, where she reached

324-556: A lucky loser in the final round of qualifying to Jelena Kostanić ). At the end of the month, she advanced to the second round at the US Open by defeating Iveta Benešová . Further first-round wins in September over María Vento-Kabchi (at Bali) and Jelena Janković (at Beijing) could not be consolidated on in subsequent rounds of the respective tournaments; but at Guangzhou, the last tournament she would play all year, she reached

378-451: A second Hobart quarterfinal, before losing to eventual champion Anna Chakvetadze. At the Australian Open , Zheng put in an extremely disappointing performance, losing to then 97th ranked Julia Schruff of Germany, after holding match point on more than one occasion. In doubles, her title defense with Yan Zi ended in the semifinals with a defeat by Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung – the same partnership which they managed to defeat in

432-565: A second round defeat by Anastasia Rodionova and her last competitive match of the season saw her worst loss in terms of rankings, where she fell in the second round of Zurich qualifying to world No. 139, Joanna Sacowicz of Poland. However, in December, Zheng took part in the Asian Games in Doha. After a surprising first-round loss in the team event, she went into the singles competition as

486-406: Is a popular spot for players to win their first title; since it became a WTA event again in 1999, six players have used it to win their maiden title. In 2006, it showcased the first all-Chinese final in tour history, between Zheng Jie and Li Na . Only one Portuguese player has reached the final in either the men's or the women's event: Frederico Gil , the losing men's finalist in 2010. In 2013,

540-464: Is one of China's most successful tennis players. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour – Hobart in 2005, Estoril , Stockholm in 2006, and Auckland in 2012. She also won 15 career doubles titles, eleven of them with Yan Zi , including Wimbledon and the Australian Open in 2006. She won the bronze medal in doubles with Yan Zi at the 2008 Beijing Olympics . Her career-high doubles ranking

594-560: Is world No. 3. Zheng reached the singles semifinals at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships , where she defeated world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic , in the process, becoming the first Chinese player to advance to the semifinals at a major tournament. She also reached the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open . Zheng graduated from the Sichuan Sports Academy in June 2000. At Wimbledon in 2008, she gained recognition when she became

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648-538: The China Open Tier-II tournament. She advanced to the semifinals, before losing to world No. 7 and fourth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova. Based on her strong China Open performance, Zheng became Asia's highest ranked women's singles player at world No. 26, her highest to-date career WTA singles ranking. Later, on 20 October, she reached world No. 23. In March 2009, Zheng was awarded the WTA Tour "Comeback of

702-658: The Italian Open , Zheng lost to world No. 1, Dinara Safina, in three sets. At the Madrid Open , Zheng fell to Amélie Mauresmo in the second round. Despite the loss, on 18 May, Zheng became the highest-ranked Chinese player in history, at No. 15. At the French Open , Zheng (seeded 15th) progressed to the second round before losing Michelle Larcher de Brito in straight sets. At the Birmingham Classic ,

756-535: The 15th seed, in the fourth round, and 18th-seeded Nicole Vaidišová in the quarterfinals. This made Zheng the first Chinese women's tennis player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament. She also became the first wildcard to reach the semifinals of the women's singles at Wimbledon. In the semifinals, Zheng lost to two-time Wimbledon champion and former world No. 1, Serena Williams . Zheng's strong Wimbledon performance elevated her ranking from world No. 133 to No. 40. She donated her prize money from

810-536: The French Open ruled her out of Wimbledon Championships to defend her doubles title. She withdrew from all events for the rest of the year because of the ankle injury. Her ranking suffered as a result, ending the year ranked world No. 163. Zheng's return to the tour was successful; in singles, she won two qualifying matches in Gold Coast before losing to Alisa Kleybanova. In doubles, she and Yan Zi reached

864-409: The French Open, and then reached the third round before losing to Dinara Safina . Her breakthrough in women's tennis occurred at Wimbledon . Despite only being ranked world No. 133, Zheng was given a wildcard into the main draw. In the third round, she defeated the first seed and world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic. This was her first victory against a top-10 player. Zheng then beat Ágnes Szávay of Hungary,

918-516: The Year" award for 2008, as she rebounded from an injury-marred 2007. In January at the Australian Open , Zheng was seeded 22nd in women's singles . She advanced to the round of 16 and faced eighth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. Zheng trailed 1–4 in the opening set, but was forced to retire with a left wrist injury after hitting the court while reaching for a ball. This was the furthest that she progressed at women's singles at this tournament in her career. In

972-446: The body or to the opponent's weaker groundstroke. In May 2002, she won two successive $ 25k ITF singles tournaments, at Shanghai and Tianjin, right after reaching her first $ 50k tournament quarterfinal, at Fukuoka, Japan. That September, she gained direct entry into a WTA tournament at Shanghai, and reached round two before losing to Anna Kournikova . She ended the year as world No. 183. In 2003, she qualified for Hyderabad and took

1026-572: The children there. Zheng keeps in a small vial pieces of her ankle bone that were removed during the ankle surgery of 2007. She says, she keeps it because it is a part of her, and that it makes her cherish being able to play tennis again and life in general. She says that although it made her world ranking plunge, it also made her grow up a lot. In 2009, Zheng separated from the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA). She talked about how it protected her in times of injury and when she

1080-610: The doubles event , she and her partner Yan Zi were eliminated in the third round, by Nuria Llagostera Vives and María José Martínez Sánchez . Zheng returned to at the Dubai Championships , and made it to the third round before losing to world No. 1, Serena Williams. She and her partner, Yan Zi, lost in the first round in doubles to the Bondarenko sisters. Seeded fourth at the Monterrey Open , she made it to

1134-409: The final at Estoril, winning four of these five titles. The Argentine streak returned in 2011 with the first of three more victories in four years. The roll of champions on the women's side is more diverse. Twelve of the seventeen different champions have represented a nation that had not previously won it. Despite this, Spain is still, although slightly, the most dominant nation. The women's tournament

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1188-411: The final match of Hobart International in 2005, the finalist Gisela Dulko described her game as 'The Great Wall of China' because 'she didn't miss one ball'. Also an accomplished doubles player, she is very comfortable when playing at the net. Zheng's best shot is her backhand. Her main weakness is her serve; however she is sometimes able to neutralize her weak serve with her quickness or by serving to

1242-481: The final of the Doha Asian Games just one month previously. Zheng competed in both the singles and doubles (with Yan Zi) of the French Open. At the beginning of the tournament, she sustained an ankle injury, hampering her performance. She was knocked out in the first round of the singles competition by Timea Bacsinszky, and also lost in the first round in the doubles portion. The ankle injury sustained at

1296-580: The final, only to lose to the third seeds, Safina and Szávay. However, in Sydney, the duo won the title, beating second seeds Sugiyama and Srebotnik and reigning US Open champions Dechy and Safina along the way. At the Australian Open, the duo made it to the seminfinals, beating the Williams sisters along the way, before losing to the 12th seeds Peer and Azarenka. Zheng qualified for the main draw of

1350-431: The first Chinese player ever to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament, defeating then-world No. 1, Ana Ivanovic, en route. She donated her winnings to the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in her native province. Zheng was coached by Jiang Hong Wei, China's national women's team head coach, but she was later coached by her husband Zhang Yu who was also her hitting partner. They became close during

1404-413: The first Chinese player to reach an Australian Open semifinal when she took out unseeded Maria Kirilenko in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal match, she lost to former world No. 1 and 2004 champion, Justine Henin . Zheng next competed at Dubai as the 16th seed, but was upset in the first round by Alicia Molik in three sets. Competing at the first-ever Malaysian Open , Zheng reached the second round as

1458-496: The first round of the main draw, before bowing out to Tamarine Tanasugarn . However, the very next month she defeated Tanasugarn at the Japan Open, where she reached her first WTA semifinal before losing to Maria Sharapova . At the end of October, she reached another WTA quarterfinal at Quebec City with a second-round win over Antonella Serra Zanetti before losing in three sets to Laura Granville . In December, she

1512-542: The first tournament on grass, Zheng was the top seed but lost to the eventual champion Magdaléna Rybáriková in the third round. Next at the Eastbourne International , Zheng advanced to the second round, before losing to Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak . Seeded 16th at Wimbledon , Zheng was upset in the second round by Daniela Hantuchová , in straight sets. As she was a semifinalist the previous year, her ranking fell to world No. 24. Zheng's next tournament

1566-622: The fourth round, where she lost to Paola Suárez . She was the first Chinese woman to reach the fourth round of a major event. At the Summer Olympics in Athens, she lost her first-round match to Ai Sugiyama . In September, she won a $ 25k tournament at Beijing, defeating Yan Zi in the semifinal and Li Na in the final. She later made it to the finals in a $ 50k tournament in Shenzhen, before losing to countrywoman Peng Shuai. Zheng ended

1620-440: The organization of the tournament changed its name to "Portugal Open" in order to present the tournament as a Portuguese well-organized event. 38°42′29″N 9°15′9″W  /  38.70806°N 9.25250°W  / 38.70806; -9.25250 Zheng Jie Zheng Jie (born 5 July 1983) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In May 2009, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 15. Zheng

1674-406: The period after her severe ankle injury. Zheng is on the advisory staff of Yonex and uses their rackets. She was wearing clothing by Anta and appeared in their advertising campaigns, and she is a Rolex testimonee together with Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic. Zheng started playing tennis when she was ten, after she had seen her older sister play and thought tennis would be good exercise. At first, it

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1728-486: The previous year. In August, she reached the second round at Los Angeles by again beating Shinobu Asagoe , the Canadian Open quarterfinal (with wins over María Emilia Salerni and Ai Sugiyama), and another quarterfinal at New Haven (after defeating Katarina Srebotnik and Émilie Loit in qualifying, and Jamea Jackson in the main draw, though she was assisted by entering the tournament with a first-round bye and as

1782-579: The quarterfinal at Estoril in April. But Zheng remained in fine form, and reached her second WTA Tour final at Rabat, Morocco in May, losing to Nuria Llagostera Vives after wins over Catalina Castaño , Maureen Drake and Tathiana Garbin, followed by a walkover against Na Li who had to retire at 3–3 from an ankle sprain. A three-set loss to Francesca Schiavone in the first round of the French Open prevented Zheng from defending her ranking points accrued there

1836-588: The quarterfinal; but it was in August at the Bronx that she won her first $ 50k title, beating Shenay Perry , Jamea Jackson , Akiko Morigami , Adriana Serra Zanetti and (in the final) Maria Kirilenko to this end. Although Kirilenko avenged this defeat in qualifying at the US Open, Zheng proceeded to qualify for Bali in September with victories over Yan Zi and Yuka Yoshida . She then defeated Flavia Pennetta in

1890-427: The quarterfinals at Hyderabad and Doha (where she comfortably beat Jelena Dokić in round 2), and the second round at Miami and Vienna (where she beat Lisa Raymond ). Then at the French Open, playing only her second Grand Slam singles main draw (after gaining direct entry to the Australian Open but losing in the first round), she defeated Dally Randriantefy , Émilie Loit , and Tathiana Garbin in succession to reach

1944-499: The second seed. She ended up winning the gold medal, with victories over Shikha Uberoi , Chan Yung-jan , Aiko Nakamura, and Sania Mirza . She also took gold in doubles with partner Yan Zi, defeating Chan Yung-jan and Chuang Chia-jung of Taiwan. To end 2006, Zheng won the Chinese National Championships, with a three-set victory over her doubles partner in the final. Season started well when Zheng reached

1998-423: The semifinal with wins over Carly Gullickson , Jamea Jackson and Maria Kirilenko, before suffering her second loss of the year to Nuria Llagostera Vives. This string of results lifted her to a career-high world ranking of 42 in early October 2005. 2006 started poorly for Zheng in singles, with a string of six successive first-round losses dipping her ranking to world No. 56 by the end of February. However, after

2052-505: The semifinals before losing to No. 2 seed Marion Bartoli . After this result, she created her highest world ranking of No. 17 at that time. Zheng was seeded 17th at the Sony Ericsson Open . She advanced to the round of 16 before losing to Serena Williams in three sets. Zheng's strong performance helped her to reach world No. 16, the highest ranking ever by a Chinese tennis player (Li Na had also reached world No. 16 in 2007). At

2106-532: The semifinalst. At the Miami Open , Zheng lost in her second-round match to Virginie Razzano . She and doubles partner Chan reached the semifinals. Zheng was seeded fifth at the Warsaw Open , where she reached the final losing to the defending champion, Alexandra Dulgheru . She also advanced to the semifinals of the doubles event of the tournament. At the French Open , Zheng was seeded 26th and reached

2160-440: The strongest player, but makes up for this with her careful thinking of where to place her shots and willingness to change game plans if a strategy is not working. Her shots are of a lot of pace and very well placed, making Zheng an excellent defensive counterpuncher. She has one of the best footwork and court coverage on the tour, which allows her to keep shots in play that would normally be winners; so few shots get by her that after

2214-513: The third round before losing to sixth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia, who eventually won the singles silver medal. Zheng had better results in doubles with her partner Yan Zi, where they were seeded eighth. After losing in the semifinals to the fourth-seeded Spanish team of Medina Garrigues and Ruano Pascual for a spot in the gold medal final, they won the bronze medal match against the Ukrainian sisters team of Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko . This

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2268-466: The third seed, where she was defeated by Chang Kai-chen . However, Zheng won the doubles title at the event with Chan Yung-jan, defeating Anastasia and Arina Rodionova in a championship tie-break. Zheng next competed at the Indian Wells Open , where she was seeded 18th. She advanced to the quarterfinals, before losing to No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki. In doubles, Zheng and Chan reached

2322-476: The title Estoril Open . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Estoril_Open&oldid=856316694 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Portugal Open The men's tournament

2376-493: The tournament and spent time helping the victims and post-reconstruction effort of the 12 May earthquake that killed nearly 70,000 people and left five to ten million homeless in her home province Sichuan . She did the same with her French Open prize money earlier in the year. In August 2008, Zheng competed for China in both singles and doubles at the Beijing Olympics . In the singles portion, Zheng made it to

2430-508: The women's tournament but Victoria Azarenka was runner-up in 2007 . Statistically, the men's tournament highlights the dominance of Argentine and Spanish male players on red clay. Between 1990 and 2001, at least one Spaniard appeared in the final ten times, with a player from Spain claiming the title in nine of those twelve years. The Spanish dominance waned in recent years. Since 2001, there have only been three Spaniards in four finals with two victories. Between 2002 and 2006, an Argentine made

2484-454: The year world-ranked 67. Zheng started 2005 by capturing her first WTA Tour singles title at Hobart, after wins over Mariana Díaz Oliva , Shinobu Asagoe , Klára Koukalová , Li Na and Gisela Dulko. She qualified for Dubai with wins over Sandra Kleinová , Maria Elena Camerin and Virginia Ruano Pascual , and went on to defeat Anabel Medina Garrigues in the main draw, before succumbing to Lindsay Davenport . Dulko gained her revenge in

2538-490: Was a losing finalist at two successive $ 50k tournaments, falling in three sets to countrywoman Peng Shuai at Changsha (after victories over Sesil Karatantcheva , Camille Pin and Aiko Nakamura ) and, also in three sets, to the same Sesil Karatantcheva (after beating Sun Tiantian in the semifinal) at Shenzhen . Consequently, Zheng broke into the world top 100, with a year-end ranking of 93. The following year brought further improvements in her singles results. She reached

2592-420: Was created in 1990 and has been won by several top-10 players, including former world No. 1 players Thomas Muster ( 1995 and 1996 ), Carlos Moyà ( 2000 ), Juan Carlos Ferrero ( 2001 ), Novak Djokovic ( 2007 ), and Roger Federer ( 2008 ). Also, Marat Safin lost the 2004 final and Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Gustavo Kuerten won the doubles tournament in 1995 and 1997 , respectively. The men's half

2646-464: Was forced to retire at one set each. In Strasbourg, Zheng displayed yet reached the quarterfinals where she lost to second-seeded Nicole Vaidišová . In August, Zheng won the tournament in Stockholm without dropping a set. In the final, she defeated the top-seed and former world No. 2, Anastasia Myskina . A knee injury hampered Zheng's singles progress towards the end of 2006. Her US Open ended in

2700-456: Was just for exercise. Zheng was rather small (at 5', 4.5"), and she and her parents were afraid that she would not have a career in the tennis world. (In fact, she was called "xiao bu dier" by her parents, which translates into something along the lines of "small kid." Her stature was no surprise though, for both her parents were short.) They considered her focusing more on her studies, so that if she did not make it in tennis she would be able to get

2754-449: Was not playing well, for the CTA would back her completely and give her medical support. Now she manages her own money, which puts her at risk but also means that successes will be more profitable. In April 2016, Zheng announced on social media that she had given birth to her first child. Zheng's game is characterised by consistency, intellect, quick reflexes and fighting spirit. She is not

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2808-596: Was part of ATP World Tour 250 series tournaments. The women's tournament started in 1989 as the Estoril Ladies Open and was in its first two years, a separate event. After being discontinued in 1990, the event returned as a part of the Estoril Open in 1998, starting as an ITF tournament. In the following year it became a WTA tournament again. The women's tournament is currently an International Series tournament . No former world No. 1 has ever won

2862-580: Was the LA Championships as part of her US Open Series campaign. She advanced to the fourth round, before losing to 13th seeded Samantha Stosur in three sets. At the Toronto , Zheng advanced to the third round before losing to Lucie Šafářová . At the US Open , Zheng, who was seeded 21, reached the third round, before losing in straight sets to the No. 13 seed, Nadia Petrova. Zheng ended the year with

2916-577: Was the second Olympics tennis medal ever won by China. After the Olympics, Zheng entered the US Open . She advanced to the third round, before losing a tight match to second-seeded Jelena Janković. She then was seeded third in the Tier III Guangzhou International held in September and made it to the semifinals, before losing to top-seeded Vera Zvonareva . Ranked world No. 30, Zheng returned in September to Beijing for

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