Date of Birth January 5, 1980
Birthplace Hubei Province, China
Height 5' 11" (1.80 m)
Weight 159 lbs. (72 kg)
Plays Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Status Pro (2000)
Current Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Rankings - As of 8/29/2005
Singles 153
Porsche Race - Singles159
Doubles 35
WTA Ranking History
Season-Ending Singles 2004-168; 2003-436; 2002-807; 2001-537; 2000-325; 1999-440; 1998-377
Career-High Singles No. 136 (February 28, 2005)
Career-High Doubles No. 19 (October 4, 2004)
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
SINGLES
Winner (0 WTA Tour): 2005 - ITF/Beijing-CHN.
Semifinalist (1): 2004 - Guangzhou.
DOUBLES
Winner (6): 2005 - Estoril (w/Sun), ITF/Bronx, NY-USA (w/Sun); 2004 - Olympics (w/Sun), Guangzhou (w/Sun); 2003 - Vienna (w/Sun), Quebec City (w/Sun), Pattaya City (w/Sun).
Finalist (3): 2005 - Hyderabad (w/Sun), ITF/Beijing-CHN (w/Sun); 2004 - Hyderabad (w/Sun), 2003 - Tashkent (w/Sun).
Semifinalist (8): 2005 - Rabat (w/Sun); 2004 - Miami (w/Sun), Rome (w/Sun), Vienna (w/Sun), Beijing (w/Sun); 2003 - Hyderabad (w/Sun), Palermo (w/Sun); 2002 - Shanghai (w/Sun).
ADDITIONAL
Chinese Olympic Team 2004, Chinese Fed Cup Team 2005.
CAREER IN REVIEW
1997 - Won ITF/Manila 1-PHI (w/Ding)
1998 - Won ITF/New Delhi-IND (w/Li)
1999 - Won seven ITF Circuit doubles titles consecutively w/ Na Li and ended season with an additional doubles title together
2000 - Won seven more ITF Circuit doubles titles
2001 - Won one ITF Circuit doubles title
2002 - Reached first WTA Tour doubles SF at Shanghai w/Sun and won an ITF Circuit doubles title together
2003 - Won first three Tour doubles titles w/Li (the last two back-to-back) at Vienna, Quebec City and Pattaya City; won seven ITF Circuit doubles titles
2004 - Best career finish, highlighted by WTA Tour SF debut and historic Olympic gold medal in doubles; as world No.222, received WC into Guangzhou, then d. No.65 Kapros 61 61, No.49 Pratt 62 60 (best career win), and No.92 Peng 62 62 to reach first career Tour SF (l. to eventual champion N.Li), and afterwards (October 4), rose to No.165, reaching career-high No.164 a week later; qualified for two other main draws at Doha (d. Callens in 1r, l. 76(4) 61 in 2r to world No.5 Capriati) and Vienna (d. Benesova in 1r, l. in 3s to Kostanic); lost in Tour qualifying three other times; at Olympics (w/Sun), d. No.4 seeds Molik/Stubbs in QF, No.7 seeds Suarez/Tarabini 9-7 third set in SF, and No.2 seeds C.Martinez/Ruano Pascual 63 63 in final to claim Olympic gold medal, China's first-ever tennis medal; also (w/Sun), won Guangzhou (their fifth title as a team overall), finalists at Hyderabad, and SF at Miami (d. No.3 seeds L.Huber/Sugiyama en route, ret. vs. Petrova/Shaughnessy after first set with right knee sprain), Rome, Vienna and Beijing
2005 IN DETAIL
JANUARY - Made Grand Slam main draw debut at Australian Open, losing to Domachowska in 1r.
FEBRUARY - Reached main draw at Hyderabad as qualifier, losing to another qualifier, Gajdosova, in 1r; finished as runner-up in doubles (w/Sun) for second straight year at Hyderabad, falling to countrywomen Yan/Zheng.
APRIL - Captured first doubles title of 2005 (w/Sun) at Estoril, defeating Krajicek/Nagyova in championship match; teamed with Sun to go 3-0 in Fed Cup doubles action and help lift China into World Group II Playoffs.
MAY - Reached SF in doubles at Rabat (w/Sun).
JUNE - Won singles title and finished as doubles runner-up (w/Sun) at $50K ITF/Beijing-CHN, defeating Yan in singles final.
AUGUST - Reached SF in doubles at Los Angeles (w/Sun); won doubles title (w/Sun) at $50K ITF/Bronx, NY-USA.
PERSONAL
Began playing tennis at age 7 ... father is Li Rai Tang and mother is Zhang Tang Ling ... favorite color is red ... enjoys visiting Vienna and likes listening to music ... admires Steffi Graf.
(wtatour.com)
