	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

SHISEIDO WTA FINALS SHENZHEN

October 28, 2019

Zheng Jie

Shenzhen, China

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Chinese.

Q. First year in Shenzhen, continuing for another 10 years. You're here promoting tennis for the younger generation. Could you talk about the impact of the Finals on tennis in China.
ZHENG JIE: Well, Shenzhen is an emerging city. A lot of competitions and events are taking place here for teenagers. My own tennis club is here.

I think there's a lot of potential with Shenzhen. This is a very vibrant city. I think the 10-year sponsorship of this Finals is very promising. For example, the local tennis will be very vibrant because of teenagers. Young tennis players, local fans will put a lot of attention on this event.

Also this is a great name card for Shenzhen, as well as China, because tennis is something that the local Chinese government is very committed to.

Q. You and your partner won a Grand Slam in doubles. We also have two pairs of Chinese players in these Finals. Do you have any words for them?
ZHENG JIE: Of course I hope that they can win as many matches as possible. We all know this is very competitive in the Finals. Any match will be quite difficult, as challenging as a quarterfinals or semifinals in a Grand Slam.

Being able to be here is proof that they have done a lot this year. I think these Chinese players have had experience in finals before. In China, in this high-level competition, I think they're facing a lot of pressure. I hope they can enjoy this atmosphere, enjoy the process.

The next 10 years will be in Shenzhen. There will be a lot of opportunities. Many pairs, many singles players, will have a chance to come here. I hope they have good results and are enjoying this process. I hope that Chinese fans and media are looking forward to the results from Chinese players.

Q. You mentioned when you were a teenager there were no competitions in China. You only had a few chances to go abroad. Now it is quite different. We have the Finals as well as many tournaments. Coming from your personal experience, the changes to Chinese tennis in the past several years?
ZHENG JIE: Exactly as you said, I created these activities because I didn't have that many chances when I was a teenager. Looking back in the past 10 years, I think there's a great transformation in China's tennis industry. I think this is very promising to China, to Chinese players, because they can be in these high-level competitions in China, in their local provinces.

In this process, we need more top players. That is momentum for the continuation of these kind of competitions in China. We need star players, we need leaders in tennis. The impact of these leaders is huge. The transformation in tennis in China is because we have good female tennis players. That is why a lot of Chinese fans, Chinese media, sponsors and the Chinese government is paying attention.

This is a very closely linked relationship. I hope that more Chinese players will be among the top players in tennis so that we can see a long-term, healthy development of tennis in China.

Q. The Shenzhen government is giving very favorable policies to entrepreneurs. Can you talk about the tennis clubs in Shenzhen.
ZHENG JIE: In 2015 I started talking with the authorities in Shenzhen. I started the Zheng Jie Cup, I got to know their favorable policies, human resource policies of the local government. There are tax rebates for the local leaders, and that is why my club is headquartered in Shenzhen.

Through Zheng Jie Cup, we can get to know better young players as well as getting support from the local government. Those young players can actually go to school in Shenzhen as well as getting systemic education and training in Shenzhen.

Now we have signed six players aged between 9 and 12 in our club in Shenzhen.

Q. You're a leader of the Future Stars this year. You get to know many young players from all over the world. You're also familiar with the Chinese young players. Talk about the difference between Chinese young players and young players from other countries.
ZHENG JIE: Yes, I'm joining this program, the Future Stars, the WTA family, because I've been very committed to the young players in China. In the past several days I participated in their events, activities. I observed their training. I think this is a great program in China.

Also past champions came to China to communicate with young Chinese players, to train with them. In the past several days, I see a difference, a gap between Chinese young players and those from other countries.

I think it takes a few more years for the young players to mature, for Asian players to mature, compared to players from other players. Tactics-wise they're more mature and more established.

Q. You were a professional player. Now you are a mom. Kim Clijsters is coming back. Do you have any plan to come back or play in exhibitions?
ZHENG JIE: No plans to come back at all. When I was a professional player, I was asked this kind of question. People asked me whether I would come back after having my child.

I'm very determined I'm not coming back because my child is in kindergarten now. I have more time to be in the promotional events and activities. In the past several years, I was only able to be in those short trips. In the future, I will be able to follow up with these younger player programs as well as global campaigns.

Q. You're familiar with youth activities. Share some thoughts on the challenges of youth training, parents' views on younger players.
ZHENG JIE: I'm very familiar with this topic. I have participated on the front lines of this type of work.

The biggest problem I think is how to strike the balance between training and education. I think at 12 years old this is something very critical for teenagers. This has something to do with the traditional education system in China. Once you've graduated from elementary school, a lot of parents are not so determined whether their children will be able to be top players. It is very hard for them to continue after 12 years of age.

I think it is something we really need to explore in the system in terms of training, education, so that those talented teenagers will have as much time as possible to be training in the tennis system.

Q. When you were young, due to the limitation of height, you faced several times being eliminated from this industry. Now children are getting taller, stronger, more ambitious. Do you think the younger generation is more promising now?
ZHENG JIE: Looking back when I was young, I was faced with unfair challenges because of my height. But now I am one of those people, I will pick people who have better advantages, natural advantages, like taller, stronger people.

The height or physique is not the most important thing. I think the inner ambitions and the tenacity of a player is the most important thing. Most coaches will look at the inner capabilities.

When we are picking a young player, I think it requires a long-term training and education requires long-term teaching to actually and person.

Q. You were only 20 when you first made it into the top 16 in a Grand Slam. We have two young Chinese players now. Talk about the environment they are in. Are they facing more challenging competitors compared to when you were a teenager?
ZHENG JIE: I'm not really familiar with the two young players. I wasn't able to watch the full matches. I can't really say whether it's more challenging or not because in different stages of the career, you are always facing challenges.

It is very good at a very young age that they can talk with younger players from other countries, coaches, as well as more established systems. I think they're enjoying better conditions to prevent injuries and diseases.

One setback is they're facing a lot of attention from the media, from spectators and fans at a very young age. It's very hard for them to combat against those pressures. This is something that might have a big impact on these teenagers.

While there are advantages and disadvantages, all those young players are growing up in the same environment. These coming two years will be very critical periods for them. They have proved themselves being integrated in this very competitive industry. They need further proof to be able to make it onto the professional tour.

Q. The transition from teenage and professional players, we see a lot of Chinese players struggling in this phase. We're seeing foreign players with really good transitions, good results once they turn pro. How do you help those teenagers in this transition? Any experience you can share with us?
ZHENG JIE: This is a very fundamental question. Teenagers in China have good results. It is due to provincial support. The strategies they're using might be more favorable teenagers but not the adult player. In the long-term, this is not very good for these young players. This is not something they can go for.

This is a contradiction, a conflict they're facing. It's really hard to resolve how to strike this balance, how to deal with different parties of interest. We have provincial teens, local clubs. A lot of foreign players are supported by their families. They focus on the long-term plan.

Those provincial teams, local clubs, are more catering to short-term interests. That is not good for the long-term health of these players.

I think the key is to resolve this conflict of interest in this process. This is key to the transition of these teenagers. When you are young, you're quite established in your style of play. When you turn pro, it's really hard to change those tactics. It's really a painful process.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297