THE CHINESE ARE COMING, THE CHINESE ARE COMING WITH TWO SEMFINALISTS
This was an historic afternoon for Chinese tennis, long a nothing subject. Na and Jie were the first two Chinese women to crash the singles semifinals of a major, the Australian Open, and they were on live TV in their home towns, Wuhan and Cheng Du respectively, as well as the rest of their vast country.
No, the two of them didn’t win, but they set off the alarm – “The Chinese are coming! The Chinese are coming!” Once the Chinese insert themselves into an activity – look out.
Na Li, a sturdy 27-year-old, put on the better show, pushing the champ, Serena, around for 2 hours, missing out on a pair of tie-breakers: 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1). She had beaten Williams once in four starts, and her deep groundies were troublesome as she ascended to a No. 17 world ranking. No. 17 ain’t exactly chopped suey.
The afternoon was more difficult for No. 35 Jie Zheng. Running into an explosive, rediscovered Justine Henin, she went down, in flames, 6-1, 6-0. So it’s Serena and Justine for the title Saturday.
Chinese have been factors in Australian life for a long time. Every city or small country town has at least one Chinese restaurant. But tennis players? Quite recent.
Four were entered in the Open. All women.
“Where are the Chinese men,” I asked Na.
“The Chinese men in China,” she grinned.
What are they doing?
“They still sleeping. They didn’t wake up. I was waiting they wake up also. Yeah.”
Are they interested?
She said, “Many, many men play tennis. Someday they will wake up.”
You can bet on it.
“This semifinal good for both player – also good for Chinese tennis,” Na said. “I think the children watching, maybe they have more confidence. They think someday they can do this. Was an exciting day, yeah.”
Indeed it was. Groups of Chinese loyalists, some of them face-painted like their flag – red with gold stars – screamed for their gals. A favored cheer was “Chy yo!”
A Chinese journalist – there were lots of them – explained, “It generally means ‘come on.’ But actually it means ‘add fuel.’ “ Like shovel on the coal.
If Chairman Mao were yet around (other than as an embalmed personage in Beijing), he probably would have been pleased with Na Li and Jie Zheng. The chairman was a hacker himself. He and his staff played regularly in camp while making “the long march,” on the run to the north.
The Chinese have their eyes on tennis glory, but should remember not to let goats near the nets.
January 28 2010 03:41 am | Australian Open
