Peng Shuai helps China fly high in doubles too

By Mikhil Bhat/Doha

Peng, who is currently ranked third, was assured of the top spot when she, along with her partner from Chinese Taipei Su-Wei Hsieh, beat Irina Buryachok and Vitalia Diatchenko 6-2 6-4 in the opening round of Qatar Total Open on Thursday.

Yesterday, the pair breezed past the Romanian-Czech duo of Monica Niculescu and Klara Zakopalova 6-1 6-1 for a place in the semi-finals.

“This was a goal for me this year,” she told WTA.com. “At the end of last year we were very close to (Sara) Errani and (Roberta) Vinci, and in Australia we had a big chance but we didn’t make it. But I’m so happy I made it here in Doha. This is a really happy experience for me.”

Peng was one of the first four players – Li Na, Zheng Jie and Yan Zi were the others – to move away from the state-sponsored sport system back in 2008.

While there was freedom to appoint your own coaches and have your own team around you, there were also the pressures to handle your own travelling and finances. One of the biggest changes the players experienced was that they could keep a large share of the prize money they won for themselves as opposed to handing it over to the federation like before.

These reforms, dubbed ‘Fly Alone’, came under the watch of Sun Jinfang at Chinese Tennis Association. After Li won the French Open in 2011, she had thanked Sun, saying, “Without her reforms, we possibly wouldn’t have achieved this success.”

Peng was 40th in the rankings when she chose to ‘Fly Alone’. In August 2011, she achieved a career high ranking of 14 before she saw her singles ranking dip back into the 40s.

Her performances along with Hsieh, however, have seen her rise in the doubles rankings.

In 2013, Peng won five doubles title with Hsieh, including the Grand Slam at Wimbledon, the year-ending WTA Championships, Rome, Cincinnati and Guangzhou.

She also won in Pattaya with her compatriot Zhang Shuai, who is the latest one to ‘Fly Alone’, at the start of 2014.

“Before 2008, we used to play for teams and then go on to play for the Chinese national team,” Peng, who played for Tianjin in northern China, told Gulf Times.

“When our generation of players came along, born in the 1980s, tennis had just started in China. We didn’t have many tournaments. There were not many professional players.

“But I appreciate the Chinese federation. Tennis is special as a sport. You have traveling, you have coaches, fitness coaches, you have to build your own team around you. And the federation authorized that. It was good for tennis.

“I feel now it is great, they really want to help the players. Players play for the teams, for the federation and they can also go on their own. It is a great moment for tennis in China.”

While Hsieh, who is ranked a spot behind Peng, has been her regular partner, she played with Zhang in Pattaya.

“This year, there are Asian Games. So the federation was thinking if we could play together. The schedule, the time are still not confirmed. I don’t even know if I will be going to the Games. But we are looking at how it is going. The outing in Pattaya wasn’t bad,” Peng laughed.

While her relationship with two-time singles Grand Slam winner Li is “nothing special”, Peng said she was happy the sport of tennis in China is growing.

“Now, in China, tennis is more and more popular. Lot of people, young kids have started to play. The more the people play, you can get more people on the tour. It is same like football. Like In Europe everyone plays football,” Peng, who started playing tennis at the age of eight and a half under the watch of her uncle, said.

“When we were young, there were not many tournaments around. Now, there is Beijing, Hong Kong, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Guangzhou,” the 28-year-old said before her imagination took flight.

“Hopefully in future we won’t have to travel and we can stay in China and play there.”