Jie Zheng practises between six and seven hours a day so duking it out with Svetlana Kuznetsova for two-and-a-half hours today on a hot Auckland afternoon was little trouble for the energetic Chinese player.
The crowd at Stanley St had little idea what was about to unfold when Kuznetsova breezedthrough the first set today but Zheng started to grow in confidence and went on to win 2-6 6-3 6-3.
She had a few nervous moments towards the end, when Kuznetsova staged her own comeback from 5-1 down in the third set to have two break points to get it back on serve at 5-4. But Zheng settled to beat Kuznetsova for the first time and reach her first final since 2010.
Her win was in stark contrast to the way Flavia Pennetta qualified for tomorrow's ASB Classic final, with the Italian fourth seed cruising past Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-2 in just 58 minutes. Pennetta, though, has spent more time on court than most this week and later qualified for the doubles final with Julia Goerges.
Zheng is little known on the circuit outside China but has won three WTA Tour titles and was as high as 15 in the world in 2009. In 2008 she became the first Chinese player to appear in a grand slam semifinal when she progressed to the last four at Wimbledon and she repeated the feat at the Australian Open in 2010.
She's now ranked 48 after a difficult 2011 interrupted by two surgeries on a troublesome wrist but has designs on once again being in the higher echelons of the game.
"I practice hard," she said. "We practise every day between six and seven hours... and I had six weeks before the tournament in China practising. So my coach and my physio pushed me a lot - they almost killed me."
It's the sort of work ethic she's adopted throughout her career. Her parents tried to talk her out of playing tennis as a youngster, believing she was too small to be a professional, but she has proved them wrong and banked in excess of US$4 million (NZ$5m).
It's significantly less than Kuznetsova, who is on the verge of topping US$16 million in earnings, but the former world No 2 and two-time grand slam winner illustrated this week everything both good and bad about her game.
When she's on, she's one of the most feared players in the world but she can also frustrate as the errors mount and lets winning situations pass her by.
"I'm really disappointed because I think I should have won that match and I had really good opportunities to do that but it's the game," she said. "I have to improve some things and I know what I need to work on before the Australian Open. My game is already much better than it was last year so it's something positive."
It's been a good week, too, for Pennetta, whose win over Kerber went went some way to making up for her defeat to the German at last year's US Open quarterfinal. She admitted she wrestled with memories from that match but it didn't show in her game.
She was nearly faultless in all aspects as she waltzed into her second ASB Classic final. She doesn't possess a major weapon, which is probably why she's never risen above 10 in the rankings, but is also very difficult to beat.
"Last time I lost against her it was an important moment, an important match at the US Open," she said. "That was coming in my mind before the match but I was trying to be focused on the match today and to do my best. I think my tennis was perfect also today."
