China's policy of promoting tennis ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics paid dividends on Wednesday when Jie Zheng put the country on the tennis map by advancing to the third round of the French Open.
The Chinese number one, who won two matches in qualifying at Roland Garros last year but failed to make the main draw, beat France's 31st seed Emilie Loit 6-4, 6-1 and set up a third round clash with Italy's Tathiana Garbin, who stunned world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne on Wednesday.
"In recent years, the Chinese Tennis Association pays more attention to improving tennis in China," said Zheng after she beat Loit, who has won two claycourt tournaments this year.
"Because we have the Olympic Games, the cities are investing more money and giving national tennis players more opportunities to play tournaments outside."
Zheng, who said she had hoped to meet Henin-Hardenne in the tournament to "learn a lot", has slowly climbed the WTA ladder in the past four years to reach 58th in the world.
"I started playing tennis at the age of seven. Until the age of 15, I played tennis in the province of Si Chuan, in the southwest of China.
"From the age of 17, I joined China's national team," added Zheng, who came to Paris with her mother and cites Steffi Graf as her main inspiration.
