Zheng Jie: Participating in the Legends’ Event with a Relaxed Mindset, Cherishing Many Wonderful Memories at Wimbledon

Renowned Chinese tennis veteran Zheng Jie is set to compete in the Legends’ Event of this year’s Wimbledon. Her debut will take place on July 9th, local time, in the fifth match on Court No. 8. Partnering with Italian tennis legend Vinci, they will face Konta and Vandeweghe. In an exclusive interview with the All Tennis APP journalist prior to the event, Zheng Jie shared many delightful memories of Wimbledon, as well as some interesting behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

Returning to Wimbledon to compete, Zheng Jie candidly admitted that her mindset is more relaxed than before: “It’s completely different from when I was an active player; I can truly enjoy the matches and the atmosphere of the court. Returning to Wimbledon, I have many beautiful memories here, including reaching the singles semifinals, winning doubles titles, and making it to the mixed doubles semifinals once. It feels like much of my youth was spent here.”

Speaking about the behind-the-scenes details of her return to Wimbledon, Zheng Jie revealed: “In April, I received an email from Wimbledon inviting me and Yan Zi to participate next year, as it will be the tenth anniversary of my retirement. At the beginning of May, Wimbledon said they hoped to invite me to compete this year. I hesitated for a moment because I have my own work in China, organizing junior tournaments, and haven’t been training systematically. However, my affection for Wimbledon runs deep; my best results were achieved here, and when my ranking was very low, Wimbledon gave me a wildcard, so it was hard for me to turn down such an invitation, and I accepted with a bit of trepidation.”

Zheng Jie is teaming up with former US Open runner-up Vinci in this year’s Wimbledon. She mentioned seeking advice from her peer partner: “We practiced together yesterday, and she participated last year, so she filled me in. Initially, I thought we could just play for fun, but she mentioned that some players train seriously, which made me a bit nervous. I figured since we’re both retired, we should just enjoy ourselves. Talking with other players in the locker room, some are top players who have recently retired and are quite competitive. Vinci is alright in this regard; we’re the same age.”

Zheng Jie mentioned that she is closely following China’s rising generation of players and has some private interactions with them: “Their era is different from ours; they engage more closely with the media. When we played, the media wasn’t as developed, and netizens wouldn’t get information instantly; they would be more exposed to public scrutiny. Now, they’re more visible to everyone.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics, Zheng Jie undoubtedly hopes that the Chinese contingent can achieve great success again. She stated: “This time, one of the biggest challenges for Team China might be switching from clay to grass and then back to clay, with little time for concentrated training, unlike when we could live and train together. I hope everyone stays healthy, avoids injury, and cherishes their opportunity to compete. For Chinese people, participating in the Olympics is the highest honor; there are four Grand Slams each year, but the Olympics come around only once every four years, and not every player gets the chance to participate. I hope they give it their all, and I’ll support them from behind the scenes.”

Zheng Jie also spoke about her own Olympic medal-winning experience, having won the bronze in women’s doubles with Yan Zi at the Beijing Olympics. She said: “The bronze medal is still kept at home. At the time, winning the bronze medal left us with a slight sense of regret; Yan Zi and I hoped to go further, but during the award ceremony, seeing legendary players like the Bryan brothers get emotional over their bronze medals helped ease our feelings.”

Zheng Jie revealed that she brought her child to the Wimbledon scene this time: “The kid is eight years old now, and he still enjoys tennis quite a bit. During the Australian Open this year, because Zhang Yu was coaching Yuan Yue, I took my child along later, and it had a significant impact on him, giving him a new understanding of tennis. Now, his interest in tennis surpasses football, and he has been actively practicing since returning from the Australian Open.”