Zheng Jie (郑洁) makes it to the Wimbledon finals
odaneng
July 10, 2008, 01:59 PM posted in General DiscussionI'm curious what kind of sensation (if any) there was over Zheng Jie's great run at Wimbledon. She beat the number one player in the world (Ivanovic) and gave Serena Williams a run for her money. Moreover, she's cute! Yeah, I know I shouldn't notice that. I should only notice her gorgeous backhand.
pinkjeans
July 10, 2008, 03:08 PMMan, she was good! I share part of my name with her - the jié part. Fortunately, my name is transliterated the Cantonese way and nobody has any problem pronouncing it as it sounds like an English word/name anyway. Wish I shared her tennis ability, though! ;)
odaneng
July 10, 2008, 06:39 PMYeah, it was embarassing how they kept calling her jang ji. I can understand having trouble with jie, but zheng isn't hard. Do some research.
Then there was this discussion between two announcers. One saying how good this was for tennis that a Chinese woman did so well. And the other guy kept puzzling how it could be good for tennis since Americans didn't care. He couldn't get it through his head that there is tennis beyond the Western world.
calkins
July 10, 2008, 06:57 PMLet me guess, the puzzled announcer was McEnroe? He doesn't realize there is anything or anyone beyond himself!!
ewong
July 11, 2008, 01:41 AMIt's big year for Asians at Wimbledon this year. Tanasugarn from Thailand and Zheng Jie both advanced to the quarterfinals.
I'm really looking forward to watching Zhang Jie at the Olympics :) Another great Chinese player is Li Na 李娜. Is she playing at the Olympics as well?
odaneng
July 11, 2008, 03:07 PMIt wasn't McEnroe. I didn't like him as a player, but I think he's pretty good as a commentator. Though he seemed to have some kind of mancrush on Agassi.
I saw 李娜 and 彭帅 play doubles at the US Open last year. They looked good but they lost early. Yes, they'll all be playing at the Olympics.
calkins
July 10, 2008, 02:55 PMOdaneng, I will agree with you :)
Here's a pretty funny article about how the commentators were butchering Zheng Jie's name during her match with Serena...in effect, calling her a chicken or a prostitute! I wish I had watched this match.