Chinese tennis' Peng shines too

インドネシアの歴史--IN A year which Chinese tennis is dominated by the breakthrough of Li Na, compatriot Peng Shuai is also quietly compiling her personal-best professional season.

Li gained global notice in June when she won the French Open women's singles title, the first time an Asian tennis player has won a Grand Slam singles title.

But Peng also had a stellar season, being one of only two players to reach the top-20 world rankings in both the singles and doubles.

The world No.15 Tianjin native is taking part in the six-woman Singapore Women's Tennis Exhibition from Dec 16-18 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, and believes her successful year was down to being "healthy and happy".

Said the 25-year-old in fluent English during a conference-call interview yesterday: "Last year was a very tough year for me, because I had to deal with a lot of injuries and was sick for a large part of the year. I could not play in a lot of tournaments, so my ranking dropped quite low into the 90s.

"This year, I was really healthy and really happy, I was back to playing regular tournaments and training. I was very happy this year because my ranking has gone up quite a bit."

Peng's relentless two-handed style has earned her upset wins over the likes of French Open winners Francesca Schiavone and Svetlana Kuznetsova this past year, but she believes that she has to continue working hard in order to even think of reaching the top 10.

And she believes that she can do it without any help or advice from her compatriot Li, who reached world No.4 in the rankings after her French Open triumph.

Said Peng: "I've not asked her for much advice; in fact, most of the tennis players do not give advice on how to reach the top.

"I believe the key is still to work hard. The top 10 is really hard to break into. You have to play a consistent season for the whole year."

Peng is looking forward to her first visit to Singapore, where she will vie for the exhibition title with five other top women's players: US Open champion Samantha Stosur, Agnieszka Radwanska, Flavia Pennetta, Daniela Hantuchova and Anabel Medina Garrigues.

She said: "These are five really good players coming to the tournament. I hope to perform really well and play some good matches.

"I want to go back to enjoying my matches and enjoying the tournaments, enjoying the fight to win them." asiaone