Kevin Eason
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Thinking of doing a Madonna and adopting a youngster. Trouble is I am not entirely sure Zheng Jie will go for the idea and I am not quite sure how I would explain the presence in the back bedroom of a diminutive Chinese tennis player to her indoors.
Zheng really is the revelation of the Wimbledon championships for me, so sweet and charming, I would love to take her home. Still can't believe the official guide that tells us she is 5ft 5in because she seems so tiny but, my goodness, she is feisty and tenacious. You couldn't help but admire the way she stood up to Nicole Vaidisova in her quarter-final, returning booming groundstrokes punch for punch. And while all the big girls, like Vaidisova, deafen us with their grunts and groans and shrieks, Zheng makes nothing more than the occasional bleating noise, a bit like a lost lamb.
Actually, it was quite amusing to hear Ana Ivanovic's excuse for her second round defeat at the hands of Zheng. The No 1 seed reckoned she couldn't return Zheng's shots because the Chinese girl is so small that she was hitting the ball too low over the net. Serves Ivanovic right for being so tall and Zheng, who presumably had the problem in reverse, coped alright with playing a six-footer.
But then Zheng topped everything off by revealing she is donating her Wimbledon winnings to the earthquake disaster fund in China. We reckon that is going to be around £187,500, assuming she fails to get past the muscular Serena Williams in the semis. Know who I will be rooting for and I hope the Chinese make a fuss of her when she gets home, which seems highly likely given that an estimated 100 million people watched her quarter-final even though it played in the middle of the night.
She did win the ladies' doubles title here at Wimbledon in 2006, but it all went largely unnoticed because the World Cup was on around about that time and the Chinese were consumed by their love for footy. Zheng said in her charming broken English: "It was not received as sensational as the football match. But Wimbledon is a very historical cup and it has very far reach affection in China."
So fame surely beckons this time. With her appeal as a humanitarian, natural charm and winning ways, Zheng will undoubtedly be one of China's stars at the Beijing Olympics.
***
Seems stitched on for an all-Williams final, though, doesn't it? Which will lead to the usual speculation about how the sisters will cope with playing each other. Never mind that: what will they wear? Well, Serena gets the pleats, apparently. Venus has her own clothing range, called EleVen by Venus Williams, and obviously supplies sis' as well as herself. But Venus told us at length that she loves pleats but will defer to Serena if (or when) they meet in the final and allow her to have them while she wears something plainer. Bless.
***
Venus, who won here for the first time eight years ago, reckons she is just the same simple girl she was in 2000. So what did she do for recreational time in the good old days as a young slip of a lass? Read Harry Potter books, apparently. And what does she do now? "The 27-year-old Venus still reads Harry Potter books, so not so much has changed. It's still good times and I love that," she says.
***
Tamarine Tanasugarn, the Thai girl defeated in the quarters by Venus Williams, doesn't do Harry Potter or fashion labels. She has her eyes set on higher things for she reveals she is already studying for a masters degree in business studies at Bangkok University. She is happy to stay in tennis but says she quite fancies something different. Seems like a refreshing change from all the frocks and fancies we usually get to talk about in women's tennis.
***
Tennis players, I have noticed, are not great at jokes but ribs were no doubt being tickled furiously in the Centre Court Royal Box today. What a line-up! Jimmy Tarbuck, Alan Titchmarsh and Britain's greatest all-round entertainer, the sainted Bruce Forsyth. Tell you what, all together now: Nice to see them, to see them, nice. Marvellous.
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