China's best Grand Slam

2006-05-30 16:46

Paris - Zheng Jie sparked China's best ever Grand Slam performance on Tuesday when she became the fourth Chinese woman to reach the French Open second round.

The 22-year-old, who made the fourth round here two years ago, knocked out French 23rd seed Tatiana Golovin 6-3 7-6 (7/5) and will now face either Russian qualifier Galina Voskoboeva or Ivana Lisjak of Croatia.

Zheng, who added the Estoril title earlier this month to her 2005 triumph in Hobart, joins Sun Tiantian, Peng Shuai and Li Na, who all won on Monday, in the next stage.

However, Yan Zi was unable to make it through losing 6-2 6-3 to America's Jamea Jackson on Tuesday.

All four players are guaranteed 21 000 euros each at least for making the next stage, but most of that money will continue to swell the coffers of the Chinese tennis federation.

"A small half of the money goes to me but a big half goes to the federation," smiled Zheng opting not to elaborate on the exact figures.

"The federation pays for the coaches and we have five of them when we practice together in Beijing and in Guangzhou."

- SAPA