易燃易爆区

China captured its first ever Wimbledon trophy today after Zi Yan and Jie Zheng beat Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez in an entertaining three set match to capture the women’s doubles title. The fourth seeded pair were deserved winners, triumphing 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in 128 minutes.

The surprise result consolidated China’s growing reputation as a booming tennis nation. Na Li, the first ever first Chinese seeded player in the singles draw, made a huge impact at this year’s Championships, reaching the quarter-finals, where she suffered a credible defeat to Kim Clijsters.

On the other hand, former Wimbledon doubles finalists Ruano Pascual and Suarez came into this event with no expectations after being at their lowest doubles ranking in years: both former number one’s, the Spaniard is currently number eight and the Argentine is number 93 – Suarez’s ranking dropped severely after missing the second half of the 2005 season with a hip injury. Despite their good run, the pair, who have won doubles titles at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open in the past, will be disappointed at missing out on achieving the ultimate prize of a career Grand Slam.

Zheng and Yan, winners of the Australian Open doubles title in January, quickly stamped their authority on the match, piling pressure on their veteran opponents’ weak serves with an endless barrage of powerful returns, flat passing shots and angled lobs. Unusually for a doubles final, both teams decided to err on the side of caution and battled out much of the match from the baseline.

Ruano Pascual’s erratic serve handed the Chinese the crucial break in the fourth game. After a lengthy exchange from the baseline, Zheng pounced on a floated Ruano Pascual forehand with a volley winner into the tramlines.

At 5-3, a nervous looking Yan served for the set. After serving two double faults, Suarez sprayed a forehand return wide, handing the Chinese the set in 38 minutes.

After saving two break points at the start of second set, the Argentine-Spanish pairing, who notched up the upset of the fortnight over top seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in the third round, started to show the form that has won them eight Grand Slam doubles titles. Suarez, sporting big plasters on the back of her calves, and Ruano Pascual, started to get their serves into gear, forcing Zheng and Yan into uncharacteristic unforced errors.

At 3-2, Ruano Pascual and Suarez produced their best tennis of the match. A Ruano Pascual volley, a Suarez backhand winner and a double fault from Yan handed the veteran team a love break.

The unseeded pairing had two set points at 5-3, however Zheng held her nerve forcing Suarez to serve to take the match into a deciding set. Suarez handled the pressure well, serving out to 15 after Yan drove a forehand long.

Sensing the Championship was in reach, nerves set in for both pairings. After the Argentine-Spanish pairing broke at the start of the third set, the Chinese then took the next five games to lead 5-1. Zheng wasted three Championship points on her own serve, and went on to hand her opponents the game.

It was a temporary setback. The Chinese pairing finally won the title on their eighth Championship point, bringing delight to their army of fans.

Written by Beci Wood