Yan Zi (tennis)

For other uses, see Yanzi (disambiguation).

Yan Zi
晏紫

Country (sports)	China (2000–2014) Hong Kong (2014–2016)
Residence	Hong Kong, China
Born	(1984-11-12) 12 November 1984 Chengdu, Sichuan, China
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro	February 2003
Retired	2016
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed both sides)
Prize money	US$1,977,871
Singles
Career record	199–160
Career titles	1 WTA, 0 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 40 (5 May 2008)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	2R (2006)
French Open	1R (2006, 2008)
Wimbledon	1R (2006, 2007, 2008)
US Open	1R (2006, 2007, 2008)
Doubles
Career record	375–179
Career titles	17 WTA, 16 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 4 (10 July 2006)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	W (2006)
French Open	SF (2006)
Wimbledon	W (2006)
US Open	QF (2005, 2006, 2008)
Other doubles tournaments
Olympic Games	Bronze medal (2008)
Medal record Women's Tennis Representing China Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Doubles Asian Games 2006 Doha Doubles 2010 Guangzhou Team Event 2010 Guangzhou Doubles

Yan Zi
Chinese	晏紫
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yàn Zǐ IPA [jɛ̂n tsì]

Yan Zi (Chinese: 晏紫; born 12 November 1984) is a retired mainland Chinese-Hong Kong tennis player.

Career summary

In 2005, at the age of 20, Yan Zi won her only WTA Tour singles title at the Guangzhou Tier III tournament.

In singles, she first reached the world top 100 in January 2006, achieving a then career-high of world No. 72 that March before failing to defend her breakthrough run of results the previous year and dropping back outside the top 100 that October. Her ranking had slumped to 262 by February 2007 after a year of disappointing results, but her results then picked up again over the rest of 2007; and she regained the top 100 for the first time in ten months after a spectacular run at the Tier I Rogers Cup in August, reaching the semifinals before finally being defeated by world No. 1 Justine Henin, 6–3, 6–0.

In doubles, her highest ranking is No. 4; she won two Grand Slam titles partnering with Zheng Jie. While she has been good at doubles, her singles performance has been inconsistent as her form fluctuates. She has winning records against top 10 stars Jelena Janković 2–0, Ana Ivanovic 1–0, and Marion Bartoli 1–0.

In 2014, Yan received Hong Kong citizenship. In April 2016, she became captain of the Hong Kong Fed Cup team. She announced her retirement that year.

Singles career in detail

2002–2003

Until January 2002, Yan met with mixed results as a singles player in the lower reaches of the ITF tournament hierarchy. But that month, she reached the final of a $10k event at Hull, losing to Liu Nannan. In May, she avenged this defeat with a win over Liu in the first round of a $50k tournament at Fukuoka; and again in August she defeated Liu, this time in the quarterfinal of a $25k tournament at Beijing, only to lose to Rika Fujiwara in the semifinal. In September, she qualified for the WTA Tour contest at Shanghai, only to lose in the first round. But she had reached numerous ITF quarterfinals during the year, and finished it ranked for the first time inside the world top 300, at No. 299.

In February 2003, she narrowly failed to qualify at Hyderabad, losing to Maria Kirilenko in a tight three-set match in the final round of qualifying. She put in her career-best performance to date at Fukuoka, reaching the semifinal with wins over Rika Fujiwara and countrywoman Sun Tiantian, before losing to Saori Obata despite winning more games, the scoreline standing at 6–2, 6–7, 5–7. In July, she qualified for a WTA event at Palermo by defeating Zheng Jie and Ivana Abramović, then fell in the main-draw first round to Italian rising star Francesca Schiavone in another three-setter in which she won more games than her victorious opponent, the scoreline this time being 6–0, 4–6, 3–6. These defeats suggest that she quickly runs out of steam after giving it all in the first set, thereby allowing her opponent to regroup and eventually pocket the contest. The same week, she defeated countrywoman Sun Tiantian to qualify for a $50k tournament at Modena, and in the main draw ousted Yulia Beygelzimer and Adriana Serra Zanetti en route to a quarterfinal loss. In September, she qualified for another WTA event, the Japan Open, and defeated Ashley Harkleroad in round two before losing, on this occasion, to Zheng Jie in the quarterfinals. In December, she reached the semifinal of a $50k tournament for the second time in the year, beating Tzipora Obziler in the quarterfinal at Changsha before losing to another of her prominent countrywomen, Peng Shuai. The following week, she narrowly lost in the quarterfinal of the $50k contest at Shenzhen to future star Sesil Karatantcheva, 6–3, 1–6, 4–6. The year had brought great improvement to Yan's singles results, and her year-end ranking correspondingly improved to 179.

2004

Unfortunately, 2004 set back her progress slightly. The year began poorly for her with a string of early losses, although she was ambitiously targeting only WTA events now, raising the bar on the required standard for successful competition. She failed to win a first-round main draw match the entire year, meeting only with moderate success in qualifying rounds; and ultimately the only relief she could find towards salvaging her world ranking was a retreat to ITF events late in the year. She reached the semifinal of a $25k tournament at Beijing in September (losing again to Zheng Jie), and the same stage at Shenzhen (where she shocked by Li Na in the quarterfinals, then lost yet again to Zheng). This late flourish of results was enough to limp her home to a year-end ranking of 248.

2005

In January, 2005, Yan battled her way past three high-quality opponents, Julia Schruff, Shikha Uberoi and Melinda Czink, to qualify for Tennis Gold Coast, an important WTA event, where she was removed by Tatiana Golovin of France. Then in May, she managed to beat Uberoi again after qualifying for Rabat with a win over Sun Tiantian, only to lose to Arantxa Parra Santonja in the second round. Then in June, she surpassed her previous career-best result, reaching the final of a $50k tournament at Beijing with wins over Sun and Zheng, but lost in the final to less-feted countrywoman Li Ting. The following month, as a direct entrant to the WTA event at Modena, she defeated the much higher-ranked Marta Domachowska of Poland before losing a close three-setter to Sanda Mamić. In September, she avenged her defeat by Li Ting to qualify for Bali, only to succumb to her former doubles partner Li Na in round two of the main draw.

On September 26, she began competing in the WTA event at Guangzhou, this year up-rated to Tier III status, and shocked herself by proceeding to win the entire tournament, having previously failed to win even one ITF singles title, and having only once reached the quarter-final stage at any WTA Tour event. To achieve this astonishing outcome, she had to produce some of her best tennis to conquer defending champion Li Na in the quarterfinal, which she finally won 6–7, 7–5, 7–6 after an intense battle. The other matches against worthy opposition looked easy by comparison, as she crushed Marta Domachowska for the loss of just three games in round two, fought past impressive emerging teen star Victoria Azarenka 6–4, 6–3 in the semifinal, and was up 6–4, 4–0 against Nuria Llagostera Vives in the final when the Spaniard conceded victory.

A semifinal result in November's $50k Shenzhen tournament capped off what had proved to be a superlative year for Yan, leaving her world-ranked 104, within the direct-entry threshold of Grand Slam events and minor WTA tournaments, and within the qualifying-entry threshold of even the more exclusive WTA fixtures.

2006

Yan Zi during the first round of the 2006 Australian Open

She began 2006 by narrowly failing to qualify for Tennis Gold Coast, despite wins over Vania King and Shikha Uberoi, as Angela Haynes defeated her in three sets. But she succeeded in qualifying for Sydney with stunning straight-sets victories over Eva Birnerová, Denisa Chládková and Anastasia Yakimova, and beat the high-ranked Russian Anna Chakvetadze 6–3, 6–3 in the main draw first round before losing a three-set match to Francesca Schiavone, who had to struggle through a nail-bitingly close second-set tiebreak to avoid a straight sets loss to Yan, only to win the final set by a more comfortable margin.

As if these scores were not enough to prove her capability to the wider world, at the Australian Open she knocked out former No. 15 and the previous year's semifinalist, Nathalie Dechy of France, in the first round, she then defeated unseeded Aleksandra Wozniak 6–3, 6–4, before suffering to former No. 19 Sybille Bammer. February brought more disappointing results in singles for Yan, as she lost a three-setter to Emma Laine of Finland at Pattaya, and failed to qualify for Doha and Dubai. But still, her January results and some points picked up in qualifying rounds in February had improved her world ranking to No. 66, just one place behind Li Na.

2007

At the second round of the Canada Masters in Toronto, she upset world No. 4 Ana Ivanovic with a score of 6–3, 6–1 in just over an hour, even as Ivanovic had a rare off day. She then beat Eleni Daniilidou in the third round and 2007's Wimbledon's finalist Marion Bartoli (who retired while trailing 2–6, 0–3) in the quarterfinals. Yan's run was ended in the semifinals by world No. 1, Justine Henin, who showed the door through a straight sets 6–3, 6–0 win over her.

2008

Yan started 2008 poorly, with a first-round loss at the Australian Open to eventual quarterfinalist Venus Williams. However, at the Bangalore Open she upset Maria Kirilenko saving three match points. Afterwards she managed to upset Jelena Janković in a quarterfinal, winning 6–3, 3–6, 6–3, however Janković did struggle with a shoulder injury. She eventually lost to runner-up Patty Schnyder 3–6, 4–6 and made her top 50 debut afterwards at No. 43.

At the Summer Olympics, Yan and her partner Zheng Jie won the women's doubles bronze medal, defeating the Ukrainian duo of Alona and Kateryna Bondarenko in the bronze medal match.

2009

In January, Yan played qualifying singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles at the Australian Open. In qualifying singles, she was seeded eighth but lost to unseeded Alexandra Panova of Russia, 6–7, 6–2, 7–9 in the qualifying second round. In women's doubles, she partnered with Zheng Jie and was seeded sixth and lost in the third round. In mixed doubles, she partnered with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and was seeded second and lost in the second round. Because of playing doubles extensively her singles ranking has dropped to where it is hard for her to get into events. She has started playing doubles with Chuang Chia-jung, now because she wants to get out of Zheng's shadow. The choice was more so, though, because she wants to improve her singles ranking.

Olympics

Doubles: 1 bronze medal match (1–0)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Bronze	2008	Beijing Olympics	Hard	Zheng Jie	Alona Bondarenko Kateryna Bondarenko	6–2, 6–2

WTA career finals

Singles: 1 title

Winner - Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
WTA Championships (0–0)
Tier I (0–0)
Tier II (0–0)
Tier III (1–0)
Tier IV & V (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	1.	September 26, 2005	Guangzhou, China	Hard	Nuria Llagostera Vives	6–4, 4–0 ret.

Doubles: 17 titles, 11 runner-ups

Legend: Before 2009	Legend: Starting in 2009
Grand Slam tournaments (2–0)
WTA Championships (0–0)
Tier I (2–1)	Premier Mandatory (0–0)
Tier II (2–2)	Premier 5 (0–0)
Tier III (6–4)	Premier (1–2)
Tier IV & V (3–2)	International (1–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	June 14, 2003	Vienna, Austria	Clay	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	3–6, 4–6
Winner	1.	January 14, 2005	Hobart, Australia	Hard	Zheng Jie	Anabel Medina Garrigues Dinara Safina	6–4, 7–5
Winner	2.	February 12, 2005	Hyderabad, India	Hard	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	6–4, 6–1
Runner-up	2.	September 13, 2005	Bali, Indonesia	Hard	Zheng Jie	Anna-Lena Grönefeld Meghann Shaughnessy	3–6, 3–6
Runner-up	3.	September 25, 2005	Beijing, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	María Vento-Kabchi Nuria Llagostera Vives	2–6, 4–6
Winner	3.	January 28, 2006	Melbourne, Australia	Hard	Zheng Jie	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	2–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–3
Runner-up	4.	February 12, 2006	Pattaya, Thailand	Hard	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	6–3, 1–6, 6–7(5–7)
Winner	4.	May 14, 2006	Berlin, Germany	Clay	Zheng Jie	Elena Dementieva Flavia Pennetta	6–2, 6–3
Winner	5.	May 21, 2006	Rabat, Morocco	Clay	Zheng Jie	Ashley Harkleroad Bethanie Mattek	6–1, 6–3
Winner	6.	June 24, 2006	s'Hertogenbosch, Netherlands	Grass	Zheng Jie	Ana Ivanovic Maria Kirilenko	3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Winner	7.	July 8, 2006	Wimbledon	Grass	Zheng Jie	Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez	6–3, 3–6, 6–2
Runner-up	5.	July 26, 2006	Stockholm, Sweden	Hard	Zheng Jie	Eva Birnerová Jarmila Gajdošová	6–0, 4–6, 2–6
Winner	8.	August 26, 2006	New Haven, United States	Hard	Zheng Jie	Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur	6–4, 6–2
Winner	9.	April 15, 2007	Charleston, United States	Clay	Zheng Jie	Peng Shuai Sun Tiantian	7–5, 6–0
Winner	10.	May 26, 2007	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Zheng Jie	Alicia Molik Sun Tiantian	6–3, 6–4
Winner	11.	September 30, 2007	Guangzhou, China	Hard	Peng Shuai	Vania King Sun Tiantian	6–3, 6–4
Winner	12.	October 7, 2007	Tokyo, Japan	Hard	Sun Tiantian	Chuang Chia-jung Vania King	1–6, 6–2, [10–6]
Winner	13.	October 14, 2007	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard	Sun Tiantian	Ayumi Morita Junri Namigata	w/o
Runner-up	6.	January 5, 2008	Gold Coast, Australia	Hard	Zheng Jie	Dinara Safina Ágnes Szávay	1–6, 2–6
Winner	14.	January 11, 2008	Sydney, Australia	Hard	Zheng Jie	Tatiana Perebiynis Tatiana Poutchek	6–4, 7–6(7–5)
Runner-up	7.	March 1, 2008	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Zheng Jie	Cara Black Liezel Huber	5–7, 2–6
Runner-up	8.	March 22, 2008	Indian Wells, United States	Hard	Zheng Jie	Dinara Safina Elena Vesnina	1–6, 6–1, [8–10]
Winner	15.	May 24, 2008	Strasbourg, France	Clay	Tatiana Perebiynis	Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung	6–4, 6–7(3–7), [10–6]
Runner-up	9.	September 21, 2008	Guangzhou, China	Hard	Sun Tiantian	Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek	6–3, 2–6, [8–10]
Runner-up	10.	May 23, 2009	Warsaw, Poland	Clay	Zheng Jie	Raquel Kops-Jones Bethanie Mattek-Sands	1–6, 1–6
Winner	16.	August 9, 2009	Los Angeles, United States	Hard	Chuang Chia-jung	Maria Kirilenko Agnieszka Radwańska	6–0, 4–6, [10–7]
Winner	17.	April 11, 2010	Ponte Vedra, United States	Clay	Bethanie Mattek-Sands	Chuang Chia-jung Peng Shuai	4–6, 6–4, [10–8]
Runner-up	11.	May 17, 2010	Warsaw, Poland	Clay	Cara Black	Virginia Ruano Pascual Meghann Shaughnessy	3–6, 4–6

ITF finals

Singles (0–2)

$75,000 tournaments

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	27 January 2002	Hull, United Kingdom	Hard (i)	Liu Nannan	1–6, 2–6
Runner-up	2.	12 June 2005	Beijing, China	Hard	Li Ting	1-6, 3-6

Doubles (16–7)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1.	10 September 2000	Zhejiang, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	Chen Yan Sun Tiantian	3-6, 5-7
Winner	2.	4 June 2001	Hohhot, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	Chen Yan Sun Tiantian	6-4, 2-6, 6-3
Winner	3.	3 February 2002	Tipton, United Kingdom	Hard (i)	Zheng Jie	Tessy van de Ven Suzanne van Hartingsveldt	6–1, 6–3
Winner	4.	14 April 2002	Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam	Hard	Zheng Jie	Ayami Takase Remi Tezuka	6-1, 1-6, 6-2
Winner	5.	15 April 2002	Cagliari, Italy	Clay	Zheng Jie	Li Na Li Ting	6–4, 6–0
Winner	6.	23 April 2002	Taranto, Italy	Clay	Zheng Jie	Eva Fislová Stanislava Hrozenská	6–2, 6–2
Winner	7.	29 April 2002	Maglie, Italy	Carpet (i)	Zheng Jie	Edina Gallovits-Hall Magda Mihalache	6–4, 6–1
Winner	8.	19 May 2002	Shanghai, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	He Chunyan Liu Weijuan	6–2, 6–2
Winner	9.	26 May 2002	Tianjin, China	Hard (i)	Zheng Jie	Chan Chin-wei Chuang Chia-jung	6–0, 6–4
Runner-up	10.	11 August 2002	Beijing, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	5-7, 3-6
DNP	–	11 March 2003	Fountain Hills, United States	Hard	Zheng Jie	Alicia Molik Trudi Musgrave	—
Winner	11.	18 March 2003	Redding, United States	Hard	Zheng Jie	Jennifer Hopkins Abigail Spears	7-6(3), 7-6(5)
Winner	12.	16 June 2003	Gorizia, Italy	Clay	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	7-6(5), 1-6, 6-4
Winner	13.	30 June 2003	Orbetello, Italy	Clay	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	6-2, 7-5
Winner	14.	19 October 2003	Sedona, United States	Clay	Zheng Jie	Alina Jidkova Rossana de los Ríos	7–6(2), 7–6(3)
Winner	15.	20 October 2003	Paducah, United States	Hard	Zheng Jie	Kim Grant Samantha Reeves	6–2, 6–3
Runner-up	16.	30 November 2003	Changsha, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	4-6, 2-6
Runner-up	17.	7 December 2003	Shenzhen, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	3-6, 6-3, 4-6
Winner	18.	26 October 2004	Shenzhen, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	Chuang Chia-jung Hsieh Su-wei	6-3, 6-1
Runner-up	19.	7 November 2004	Shenzhen, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	Rika Fujiwara Elena Tatarkova	4–6, 6–1, 1–6
Winner	20.	6 June 2005	Beijing, China	Hard	Zheng Jie	Li Ting Sun Tiantian	6-1, 7-5
Runner-up	21.	7 August 2005	Washington, United States	Clay	Jennifer Hopkins	Olena Antypina Tatiana Poutchek	4–6, 4–6
Winner	22.	13 November 2005	Shenzhen, China	Hard	Hsieh Su-wei	Chan Chin-wei Hsu Wen-hsin	6–0, 6–2
Runner-up	23.	10 January 2010	Quanzhou, China	Hard	Yuliya Beygelzimer	Liu Wanting Zhou Yimiao	1–6, 2–6

Performance timelines

Singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

P#

DNQ

A

Z#

PO

G

S

B

NMS

NTI

P

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	Win ratio	Career W–L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open	A	LQ	A	2R	LQ	1R	0 / 4	1–4
French Open	A	A	A	1R	A	1R	0 / 1	0–1
Wimbledon	A	LQ	A	1R	1R	1R	0 / 3	3–3
US Open	LQ	A	LQ	1R	1R	1R	0 / 4	5–4
Grand Slam win ratio	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 1	0 / 12	N/A
Grand Slam win–loss	0–1	2–2	1–1	1–4	7–3	0–1	N/A	11–12
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics	NH	A	NH	NH	NH		0 / 0	0–0
Tier I tournaments
Doha1	Not Tier I					2R	0 / 1	1–1
Indian Wells	A	A	A	1R	A	2R	0 / 2	1–2
Miami	A	1R	A	1R	A	A	0 / 2	0–2
Charleston	A	LQ	A	A	A	A	0 / 1	0–1
Berlin	A	1R	A	LQ	2R	2R	0 / 4	6–4
Rome	A	A	A	A	2R	1R	0 / 2	3–2
Toronto/Montréal	A	A	A	A	SF	A	0 / 1	6–1
Tokyo	A	LQ	A	A	LQ	A	0 / 2	4–2
Moscow	A	A	A	A	A	A	0 / 0	0–0
Previous Tier I tournaments
San Diego1	NTI	A	A	A	A	NH	0 / 0	0–0
Zürich1	A	A	A	LQ	A	NTI	0 / 1	0–1

• ¹as of 2008, Doha is a Tier I tournament, replacing San Diego and Zurich

Grand Slam doubles performance timeline

Tournament	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	W–L
Australian Open	A	QF	1R	W	SF	SF	3R	QF	2R	A	1R	23–8
French Open	A	1R	3R	SF	1R	3R	QF	3R	A	A	A	13–7
Wimbledon	A	3R	A	W	QF	3R	3R	2R	A	A	1R	16–6
US Open	1R	2R	QF	QF	2R	QF	QF	2R	A	A	A	15–8
Win–Loss	0–1	6–4	5–3	19–2	8–4	11–4	10–4	7–4	1–1	0–0	0–2	67–29

External links

• Yan Zi at the Women's Tennis Association
• Yan Zi at the International Tennis Federation
• Yan Zi at the Billie Jean King Cup
• (in Chinese) Yan Zi's blog