In August 2004, because it happened to be the school summer vacation, I had the opportunity to go to the United States to play games.I walked alone, without a coach.
This game is in the Bronx, and it's a 50,000-level game.The match itself is not particularly important, but it happens to be a good training opportunity just before the U.S. Open qualifiers.
In the past, when I went abroad, I mostly went with my teammates, and a dozen or so people went together.Even if you go abroad to compete alone, you will often follow a coach.This time I went abroad alone, and I stumbled and stumbled all the way, which caused a lot of trouble.First, when I arrived at the hotel, I couldn't find the record of my reservation.When I called back to the country, the person in charge of booking said that it was indeed booked, but there was no record in the hotel.The hotel staff said that they can prepay with a credit card, but I don't have a credit card.Those of us who go abroad to play games at public expense like us usually only bring cash.Very late that day, I was still dragging a big suitcase alone, looking for hotels on the streets of foreign countries, and almost got to the point of sleeping on the streets.Fortunately, there happened to be a girl from Tianjin who also came to play the game that day, so I went to her room to spend the night.
Later, I negotiated with the organizing committee myself, and the organizing committee contacted the hotel to re-open a room for me.This is how I started my first game abroad after my comeback.
This time the game will also start with the preliminaries.However, with the previous four champions at the bottom, my confidence was high and my mentality was relatively relaxed. This time I played relatively smoothly and finally entered the top four.
Also in this competition, our doubles performance was also very good. I partnered with my teammates from Tianjin and won the championship.I also got a small gift, and I was very happy.After playing this game, I packed my bags and prepared to play the qualifiers for the next U.S. Open.However, this time in the competition, there was another big oolong-the team didn't even register for me!
To be precise, there is an online confirmation procedure after registration, which they did not do.All professional athletes in the world do it by themselves, but we have always been done by the relevant staff in the team.I didn't touch these things for two years in the middle of my retirement.It was the first time I went abroad for a game after my comeback. I reflexively thought that the team had already done all the preparations, but I didn’t expect that the people in the team forgot about it. In the end, I had to be confused and say that this game is over. It's over.This was the first time I had the opportunity to touch a Grand Slam after my comeback, but because my registration was not confirmed, I had to go to the airport and go home alone with my bag on my back.At that time, I thought in my heart, I finally missed such a chance to touch the Grand Slam, I don’t know how long it will take to wait for the next chance, maybe there will be no next chance at all.I feel a little regretful and aggrieved.
After returning to China, I started to prepare for the China Open.
In late September 2004, after winning three games in a row as a qualifying player, I got a pass to enter the first China Open.The first opponent I encountered in the race was Australian veteran Putra, who was ranked 49th in the world at the time.
I have never played against anyone ranked in the top 50 in the world before, and I feel a little bit of pressure in my heart, always wondering if this person is of a particularly high level.Putra was older, already 32 years old at the time.I was very young then, only 22 years old.I joked with my teammates: Try your best, you can’t compete with others.
As a result of this game, in my impression, I won with a score of 6:3, 6:4.
This is the first time in my career that I have beaten a TOP50 player.After winning the game, I went up to shake hands with Putra and the referee, but I was still confused. Is it that simple?That's how you win the top 50 people in the world?Before retiring, I worked so hard and never won. How could I take a break for two years and come back and win so easily?
It was like a dream.
At the press conference that followed, many reporters asked me questions, and my heart was still in the "dream".Jiang Shan reminded me that the opponent in the second round was Kuznetsova, the new U.S. Open champion from Russia known as the "St. Petersburg Power Station".When I was playing in Uzbekistan, I saw her on TV, and it was a tape of her final at the US Open.
This is my first time playing against a Grand Slam champion. I feel a little excited and feel very close to a master.I also told Jiang Shan during the training: "I used to only watch this guy on TV, but tomorrow we can really fight against him."
Play games the next day.Before the game, when I was practicing serving, I joked with Jiang Shan: "The opponent is too strong, will I not be able to catch her serve later?" not bad!
This is the first time I realized that maybe I thought the Grand Slam champion was too strong, and she was not as unbeatable as I thought.
The first two sets of that game were very tangled, and the score was very tight.In retrospect, I was actually not confident in myself after playing that day.Although my confidence improved to a certain extent on the first day, but on the second day, I met a player ranked TOP10 in the world and the US Open champion that year. This is the strongest opponent I have encountered since my debut. Lost to the opponent in terms of momentum, although there is confidence in the mouth, but not in the heart.
The result of not being confident enough is: I spent the entire game passively under pressure.In the third set, I took the lead to get two match points, and finally found a chance. I should have won this match point steadily, but at that time my heartbeat started to speed up, and I vaguely realized: "I might win a US match point." Net champion! A top 10 player in the world!" This kind of awareness came too suddenly for a player who had just come back.As a result, he was flustered and short of breath, worrying about gains and losses, but lost his vigor.
After all, Kuznetsova is a Grand Slam champion and has rich experience. She immediately saw that I was absent-minded and seized the opportunity to pull the score back in several fights.From then on, the rhythm of the whole game returned to the opponent's control, and I lost the game like this.
Later, Jiang Shan told me: Although I lost the game, he firmly believed at that time that I was actually very close to these world masters, the world's top 10 and even the world's Grand Slam champions.He said that I had just come out at the time, and a lot of training was not very systematic. He actually had a lot of confidence and was very pleased to be able to play like this.
I have a similar feeling - how sacred and unattainable the Grand Slam championship was in my mind before.Now it seems that everything is not as far as I imagined. As long as I try to reach out, I can get the fruits of victory.
This game left a deep impression on me. It is a pity to be reversed by the opponent with two match points in hand.From this competition, the media began to pay more attention to me.
After China Open lost to Kuznetsova, I rushed to Guangzhou to play the International Women's Open, which is known as the WTA.
According to the usual practice, young players who have performed well in previous games can receive wild cards, skipping three rounds of preliminaries and directly entering the main game.After playing China Open in Beijing, I always thought that I would get a wild card in the next game, but I didn't hear any news about the wild card until I arrived in Guangzhou.The preliminaries were just the second day after I arrived in Guangzhou.I didn't have time to rest and went straight into the game.
In the three qualifiers, I played very steadily and entered the main draw smoothly.In the fifth game, which was the second round of the main draw, I met Jankovic from Serbia, who was also a top 30 player in the world and was the No. 2 seed at the time.
In the first set we played against, I lost 0:6, and won the second set.I had two match points in the third set, but I couldn't win it, which made me feel a little impatient-the just-concluded match between China Open and Kuznetsova also failed to win two match points in the third set. Take it down... until I finally won the game, I breathed a sigh of relief: "The result is different at last."
Once the mentality is adjusted, the game will be much smoother.I entered this competition as a qualifying player and won eight games in a row. After defeating Jankovic, who was ranked top 30 in the world at the time, and Dushevina, who was ranked top 50 in the world at the time, I entered the final. It was Sucha from Slovakia.This is my first WTA final, and I haven't even made it to the top four before.I checked Su Cha's information on the Internet. The world champion a few years ago is very powerful.
At this time, my mentality was relatively calm. I attached great importance to my opponent and prepared patiently and carefully before the game. All these hard work were not in vain. After playing, I felt good and finally won with a score of 6:3 and 6:4.
The match was held on October 1 of that year. After the match, a reporter from "Sports Illustrated" came to congratulate me: "You are the first singles champion in China at the WTA level." I have made a record, I am a slow person in these aspects, and I am not aware of those "historical significance" unless others say it.
It seems auspicious to be the first WTA singles champion, and my state has been good for a while. On October 3, 2004, with the help of winning the Guangzhou International Open, my world ranking jumped from 145 a week ago to 92. This is the first time I have entered the top 100 in the world.That year, my year-end ranking was finally fixed at 80th.
2004 was a memorable year for me.When I came back, I was like a blank slate, and all my previous achievements were gone.The rebuilding process was not easy.I was like a child lost in the forest, slowly wading out my way with my feet, trying to get through the woods.Jiang Shan asked me to be a firm "lumberjack". He recognized my potential very much and encouraged me to keep going and realize my dream.There are some honors that I never dared to think of, but he thought of them for me. His boldness and affirmation made me full of confidence.I am full of longing for my future.Gradually, I broke the barriers in my heart and believed that I could become the top player in the world.
