 | |
| Country (sports) |  China (2000–2014) Hong Kong (2014–2016) |
|---|---|
| Residence | Hong Kong |
| Born | (1984-11-12)12 November 1984 (age 41) Chengdu, Sichuan |
| Height | 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Turned pro | February 2003 |
| Retired | 2016 |
| Plays | Right (two-handed both sides) |
| Prize money | US$ 1,977,871 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 199–160 |
| Career titles | 1 |
| 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 |
| 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 | |
| Yan Zi | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 晏紫 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Yan Zi (Chinese:晏紫; born 12 November 1984) is a retired Chinese-Hong Kongtennis player.
In 2005, at the age of 20, Yan Zi won her onlyWTA Tour singles title at theGuangzhou International Open.[1]
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 ICanada Masters in August, reaching the semifinals before finally being defeated by world No. 1,Justine Henin, in straight sets.[2]
In doubles, her highest ranking is No. 4; she won two Grand Slam titles, partnering withZheng Jie. While she has been good at doubles, her singles performance has been inconsistent as her form fluctuated. She has winning records against top-10 starsJelena Janković 2–0,Ana Ivanovic 1–0, andMarion Bartoli 1–0.
In 2014, Yan received Hong Kong citizenship. In April 2016, she became captain of theHong Kong Fed Cup team. Later that year, she announced her retirement.
Until January 2002, Yan met with mixed results as a singles player in the lower reaches of theITF tournament hierarchy. But that month, she reached the final of a $10k event at Hull, losing toLiu Nannan. In May, she avenged this defeat with a win over Liu in the first round of a $50k at Fukuoka; and again in August she defeated Liu, this time in the quarterfinal of a $25k tournament at Beijing, only to lose toRika Fujiwara in the semifinal. In September, she qualified for the WTA Tour contest at Shanghai, only to lose in the first round. However, she had reached numerous ITF Circuit 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 toMaria 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 andSun Tiantian, before losing toSaori 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 defeatingZheng Jie andIvana Abramović, then fell in the main-draw first round to Italian rising starFrancesca 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 defeatedSun Tiantian to qualify for a $50k event at Modena, and in the main draw oustedYulia Beygelzimer andAdriana Serra Zanetti en route to a quarterfinal loss. In September, she qualified for another WTA event, theJapan Open, and defeatedAshley 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, beatingTzipora 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 starSesil Karatantcheva, in three sets. The year had brought great improvement to Yan's singles results, and her year-end ranking correspondingly improved to 179.
Unfortunately, 2004 set back her progress slightly. The year began poorly for her with a string of early losses, although she was ambitiously targeting onlyWTA Tour 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 Circuit 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 shockedLi 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.
In January 2005, Yan battled her way past three high-quality opponents,Julia Schruff,Shikha Uberoi andMelinda Czink, to qualify forTennis Gold Coast, an important WTA event, where she was removed byTatiana 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 toArantxa 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 countrywomanLi Ting. The following month, as a direct entrant to the WTA event at Modena, she defeated the much higher-rankedMarta Domachowska of Poland before losing a close three-setter toSanda 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.
In September 2005, she began competing in the WTA event at Guangzhou, this year upgraded to Tier III status, and shocked herself by proceeding towin the entire tournament, having previouslyfailed 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 starVictoria Azarenka in the semifinal, and was up 6–4, 4–0 againstNuria Llagostera Vives in the final when the Spaniard conceded victory.[1]
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.
She began the season by narrowly failing to qualify for Tennis Gold Coast, despite wins overVania King andShikha Uberoi, asAngela Haynes defeated her in three sets. But she succeeded in qualifying for Sydney with stunning straight-sets victories overEva Birnerová,Denisa Chládková andAnastasia Yakimova, and beat the high-rankedAnna Chakvetadze in two sets 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 theAustralian Open she knocked out former No. 15 and the previous year's semifinalist,Nathalie Dechy of France, in the first round, but then lost to former No. 19,Sybille Bammer. February brought more disappointing results in singles for Yan, as she lost a three-setter toEmma 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.
At the second round of theCanadian Open 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 beatEleni Daniilidou in the third round and 2007'sWimbledon'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 win over her.[2]
Yan started 2008 poorly, with a first-round loss at the Australian Open to eventual quarterfinalistVenus Williams. However, at theBangalore Open she upsetMaria 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-upPatty Schnyder in straight sets and made her top-50 debut afterwards at No. 43.
At theSummer 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.
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 unseededAlexandra Panova 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 withMark 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.
| Result | Year | Location | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 2008 | Beijing | Hard | Zheng Jie |  Alona BondarenkoKateryna Bondarenko | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Legend |
|---|
| Tier I |
| Tier II |
| Tier III (1–0) |
| Tier IV & V |
| Result | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 26 September 2005 | Guangzhou Open, China | Hard |  Nuria Llagostera Vives | 6–4, 4–0 ret. |
| Legend before 2009 | Starting in 2009 |
|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | |
| Tier I (2–1) | Premier Mandatory |
| Tier II (2–2) | Premier 5 |
| Tier III (6–4) | Premier (1–2) |
| Tier IV & V (3–2) | International (1–0) |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1. | Jun 2003 | Vienna Open, Austria | Clay | Zheng Jie | Li TingSun Tiantian | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 1. | Jan 2005 | Hobart International, Australia | Hard | Zheng Jie | Anabel Medina Garrigues Dinara Safina | 6–4, 7–5 |
| Win | 2. | Feb 2005 | Hyderabad Open, India | Hard | Zheng Jie | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Loss | 2. | Sep 2005 | Bali International, Indonesia | Hard | Zheng Jie |  Anna-Lena Grönefeld Meghann Shaughnessy | 3–6, 3–6 |
| Loss | 3. | Sep 2005 | Beijing Open, China | Hard | Zheng Jie |  María Vento-KabchiNuria Llagostera Vives | 2–6, 4–6 |
| Win | 3. | Jan 2006 | Australian Open | Hard | Zheng Jie | Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur | 2–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–3 |
| Loss | 4. | Feb 2006 | Pattaya Open, Thailand | Hard | Zheng Jie | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 6–3, 1–6, 6–7(5–7) |
| Win | 4. | May 2006 | German Open | Clay | Zheng Jie | Elena Dementieva Flavia Pennetta | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Win | 5. | May 2006 | Rabat Grand Prix, Morocco | Clay | Zheng Jie | Ashley HarkleroadBethanie Mattek | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Win | 6. | Jun 2006 | Rosmalen Open, Netherlands | Grass | Zheng Jie |  Ana IvanovicMaria Kirilenko | 3–6, 6–2, 6–2 |
| Win | 7. | Jul 2006 | Wimbledon Championships, UK | Grass | Zheng Jie | Virginia Ruano Pascual Paola Suárez | 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 |
| Loss | 5. | Jul 2006 | Nordic Light Open, Sweden | Hard | Zheng Jie |  Eva Birnerová Jarmila Gajdošová | 6–0, 4–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 8. | Aug 2006 | New Haven Open, United States | Hard | Zheng Jie | Lisa Raymond Samantha Stosur | 6–4, 6–2 |
| Win | 9. | Apr 2007 | Charleston Open, United States | Clay | Zheng Jie | Peng Shuai Sun Tiantian | 7–5, 6–0 |
| Win | 10. | May 2007 | Internationaux de Strasbourg, France | Clay | Zheng Jie | Alicia Molik Sun Tiantian | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 11. | Sep 2007 | Guangzhou International, China | Hard | Peng Shuai | Vania King Sun Tiantian | 6–3, 6–4 |
| Win | 12. | Oct 2007 | Tokyo Championships, Japan | Hard | Sun Tiantian |  Chuang Chia-jung Vania King | 1–6, 6–2, [10–6] |
| Win | 13. | Oct 2007 | Bangkok Open, Thailand | Hard | Sun Tiantian |  Ayumi MoritaJunri Namigata | w/o |
| Loss | 6. | Jan 2008 | Gold Coast Hardcourts, Australia | Hard | Zheng Jie | Dinara Safina Ágnes Szávay | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Win | 14. | Jan 2008 | Sydney International, Australia | Hard | Zheng Jie | Tatiana Perebiynis Tatiana Poutchek | 6–4, 7–6(7–5) |
| Loss | 7. | Mar 2008 | Dubai Championships, United Arab Emirates | Hard | Zheng Jie |  Cara BlackLiezel Huber | 5–7, 2–6 |
| Loss | 8. | Mar 2008 | Indian Wells Open, United States | Hard | Zheng Jie | Dinara SafinaElena Vesnina | 1–6, 6–1, [8–10] |
| Win | 15. | May 2008 | Internationaux de Strasbourg, France | Clay | Tatiana Perebiynis | Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung | 6–4, 6–7(3–7), [10–6] |
| Loss | 9. | Sep 2008 | Guangzhou International Open, China | Hard | Sun Tiantian | Mariya Koryttseva Tatiana Poutchek | 6–3, 2–6, [8–10] |
| Loss | 10. | May 2009 | Warsaw Open, Poland | Clay | Zheng Jie | Raquel Kops-Jones Bethanie Mattek-Sands | 1–6, 1–6 |
| Win | 16. | Aug 2009 | LA Championships, United States | Hard | Chuang Chia-jung | Maria Kirilenko Agnieszka Radwańska | 6–0, 4–6, [10–7] |
| Win | 17. | Apr 2010 | Ponte Vedra Championships, U.S. | Clay | Bethanie Mattek-Sands | Chuang Chia-jung Peng Shuai | 4–6, 6–4, [10–8] |
| Loss | 11. | May 2010 | Warsaw Open, Poland | Clay | Cara Black | Virginia Ruano Pascual Meghann Shaughnessy | 3–6, 4–6 |
| Legend |
|---|
| $75,000 tournaments |
| $50,000 tournaments |
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | 27 January 2002 | ITF Hull, United Kingdom | Hard (i) | Liu Nannan | 1–6, 2–6 |
| Loss | 0–2 | 12 June 2005 | Beijing Challenger, China | Hard | Li Ting | 1–6, 3–6 |
| Result | W–L | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–1 | 10 September 2000 | ITF Zhejiang, China | Hard | Zheng Jie | Chen YanSun Tiantian | 3–6, 5–7 |
| Win | 1–1 | 4 June 2001 | ITF Hohhot, China | Hard | Zheng Jie | Chen Yan Sun Tiantian | 6–4, 2–6, 6–3 |
| Win | 2–1 | 3 February 2002 | ITF Tipton, United Kingdom | Hard (i) | Zheng Jie |  Tessy van de VenSuzanne van Hartingsveldt | 6–1, 6–3 |
| Winner | 4. | 14 April 2002 | ITF Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | Hard | Zheng Jie | Ayami TakaseRemi Tezuka | 6–1, 1–6, 6–2 |
| Winner | 5. | 15 April 2002 | ITF Cagliari, Italy | Clay | Zheng Jie | Li Na Li Ting | 6–4, 6–0 |
| Winner | 6. | 23 April 2002 | ITF Taranto, Italy | Clay | Zheng Jie | Eva FislováStanislava Hrozenská | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Winner | 7. | 29 April 2002 | ITF Maglie, Italy | Carpet (i) | Zheng Jie | Edina Gallovits-Hall Magda Mihalache | 6–4, 6–1 |
| Winner | 8. | 19 May 2002 | ITF Shanghai, China | Hard | Zheng Jie | He ChunyanLiu Weijuan | 6–2, 6–2 |
| Winner | 9. | 26 May 2002 | ITF Tianjin, China | Hard (i) | Zheng Jie | Chan Chin-weiChuang Chia-jung | 6–0, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 10. | 11 August 2002 | ITF Beijing, China | Hard | Zheng Jie | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 5–7, 3–6 |
| DNP | – | 11 March 2003 | ITF Fountain Hills, United States | Hard | Zheng Jie | Alicia MolikTrudi Musgrave | — |
| Winner | 11. | 18 March 2003 | ITF Redding, United States | Hard | Zheng Jie | Jennifer HopkinsAbigail Spears | 7–6(3), 7–6(5) |
| Winner | 12. | 16 June 2003 | ITF Gorizia, Italy | Clay | Zheng Jie | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 7–6(5), 1–6, 6–4 |
| Winner | 13. | 30 June 2003 | ITF Orbetello, Italy | Clay | Zheng Jie | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 6–2, 7–5 |
| Winner | 14. | 19 October 2003 | ITF Sedona, United States | Clay | Zheng Jie | Alina Jidkova Rossana de los Ríos | 7–6(2), 7–6(3) |
| Winner | 15. | 20 October 2003 | ITF Paducah, United States | Hard | Zheng Jie |  Kim GrantSamantha Reeves | 6–2, 6–3 |
| Runner-up | 16. | 30 November 2003 | ITF Changsha, China | Hard | Zheng Jie | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 4–6, 2–6 |
| Runner-up | 17. | 7 December 2003 | ITF Shenzhen, China | Hard | Zheng Jie | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 3–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
| Winner | 18. | 26 October 2004 | ITF Shenzhen | Hard | Zheng Jie | Chuang Chia-jungHsieh Su-wei | 6–3, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 19. | 7 November 2004 | ITF Shenzhen | Hard | Zheng Jie | Rika FujiwaraElena Tatarkova | 4–6, 6–1, 1–6 |
| Winner | 20. | 6 June 2005 | Beijing Challenger, China | Hard | Zheng Jie | Li Ting Sun Tiantian | 6–1, 7–5 |
| Runner-up | 21. | 7 August 2005 | ITF Washington, United States | Clay | Jennifer Hopkins | Olena AntypinaTatiana Poutchek | 4–6, 4–6 |
| Winner | 22. | 13 November 2005 | ITF Shenzhen, China | Hard | Hsieh Su-wei | Chan Chin-weiHsu Wen-hsin | 6–0, 6–2 |
| Runner-up | 23. | 10 January 2010 | Blossom Cup, China | Hard | Yuliya Beygelzimer | Liu WantingZhou Yimiao | 1–6, 2–6 |
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | DNQ | A | NH |
| Tournament | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | SR | W–L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam tournaments | ||||||||
| Australian Open | A | LQ | A | 2R | LQ | 1R | 0 / 2 | 1–2 |
| French Open | A | A | A | 1R | A | 1R | 0 / 2 | 0–2 |
| Wimbledon | A | LQ | A | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 3 | 0–3 |
| US Open | LQ | A | LQ | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 3 | 0–3 |
| Win–loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 0–4 | N/A | 1–10 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
