2000 - Played first events of career on ITF Circuit in China.
2001 - Played first Tour qualifying at Shanghai; won one doubles title on ITF Circuit.
2002 - Played first Tour main draw at Shanghai, reaching 2r (l. to Kournikova); fell in Tour qualifying twice (incl.
US Open); won two singles titles and eight doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2003 - First Top 100 season; SF at Tokyo [Japan Open] (l. to Sharapova) and made Top 100 debut afterwards on October 6 (rose from No.122 to No.98); QF at Québec City; reached 2r twice; fell 1r four times and in Tour qualifying seven times (incl.
Australian Open,
Roland Garros,
US Open); won one singles title and five doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2004 - Second Top 100 season; QF twice, at Hyderabad and Doha; first Grand Slam 4r at
Roland Garros (l. to Suárez; first Chinese to reach a Grand Slam 4r); made Top 50 debut afterwards on June 7 (rose from No.58 to No.49); first Chinese in Top 50 since F.Li in April 1999 (since joined by Li, Peng); reached 2r three times; fell 1r 12 times (incl. other three majors and Olympics) and in Tour qualifying three times; won one singles title and one doubles title on ITF Circuit.
2005 - First Top 50 season; won first Tour singles title at Hobart (d. Dulko in final; second Chinese to win a Tour singles title, after Li); runner-up at Rabat (l. to Llagostera Vives in final); SF at Guangzhou (l. to Llagostera Vives); QF twice, at Estoril and New Haven; reached 3r once and 2r seven times (incl.
US Open); fell 1r three times (incl.
Australian Open,
Roland Garros) and in Tour qualifying once; won two Tour doubles titles; won one doubles title on ITF Circuit.
2006 - Breakthrough season in both singles and doubles; won 47 of 60 doubles matches in near-exclusive partnership w/Yan (19 of 20 events), winning China's first Grand Slam titles at
Australian Open (d. Raymond/Stosur 26 76(7) 63 in final; saved 3mp in tie-break) and
Wimbledon (d. Ruano Pascual/Suárez in final); also won Berlin, Rabat, 's-Hertogenbosch and New Haven; first Chinese pair to qualify for Tour Championships (l. in SF); won second and third Tour singles titles at Estoril (won when Li ret. in final w/heat illness; was historic first all-Chinese Tour singles final) and Stockholm (d. Myskina in final); QF twice, at Miami and Strasbourg; best Grand Slam result was 3r at
Wimbledon; singles ranking cracked Top 40 on May 15 (after Berlin) and Top 30 on August 14 (after Stockholm; second Chinese ever to make singles Top 30, after Li); doubles ranking cracked Top 10 on May 15 (after Berlin) and Top 5 on July 10 (after
Wimbledon); also first Chinese ever to earn $1 million in career prize money (doing so on July 10, after
Wimbledon).
2007 - Strong start in singles and doubles but missed all post-Roland Garros events w/left ankle injury; best singles result was QF at Hobart; best doubles results were titles at Charleston and Strasbourg (both w/Yan); withdrew from Memphis and Strasbourg w/left ankle injury and after falling 1r in singles and doubles at
Roland Garros withdrew from all other events (same injury).
2008 - Rebounded from injury-marred 2007 for best season to date, reaching first Grand Slam singles SF at
Wimbledon (as No.133 WC, l. to S.Williams 62 76(5); held sp at 6-5 second set); first Chinese ever to reach a Grand Slam singles SF; SF two more times, at Guangzhou (l. to Zvonareva) and Beijing (l. to Kuznetsova); reached 4r once and 3r four times (incl.
Roland Garros, Olympics,
US Open); fell 1r three times and in Tour qualifying five times; having begun season at No.163, burst back into Top 100 and Top 50 on July 7 (after
Wimbledon; rose from No.133 to No.40) and peaked at No.23 on October 20 (previous career-high was No.27); won one Tour doubles title at Sydney (w/Yan) and won doubles bronze medal at Olympics (w/Yan; l. to Medina Garrigues/Ruano Pascual in SF, then d. Bondarenko/Bondarenko for bronze medal).
2009 - Third Top 40 season in last four years, highlighted by setting new Chinese national ranking record; became second Chinese ever to crack Top 20 on February 2 (after
Australian Open; rose from No.24 to No.20) then set new record of No.15 on on May 18 (after Madrid; rose from No.16 to No.15), bettering Li's previous record of No.16 (Li has since equalled the new record at No.15); best results were SF at Monterrey (as No.4 seed, l. to No.2 seed and eventual champion Bartoli), QF at Los Angeles (as No.14 seed, d. top seed Safina en route; l. to No.13 seed Stosur in 3s) and 4r finishes at
Australian Open (as No.22 seed, ret. vs. No.8 seed Kuznetsova w/left wrist sprain) and Miami (as No.17 seed, d. No.14 seed Cornet en route; l. to top seed S.Williams in 3s); reached 3r five times, at Dubai (as No.13 seed, l. to top seed S.Williams), Rome (as No.14 seed, l. to top seed and eventual champion Safina 76 third set), Birmingham (as top seed, l. to No.13 seed and eventual champion Rybarikova), Toronto (d. No.8 seed Wozniacki en route; l. to qualifier Safarova) and
US Open (as No.21 seed, l. to No.13 seed Petrova); reached 2r eight times, incl.
Roland Garros (as No.15 seed, l. to qualifier Larcher de Brito) and
Wimbledon (as No.16 seed, l. to Hantuchova); fell 1r just four times in 21 events; member of Chinese Fed Cup team that l. to Germany 3-2 in World Group Play-off (went 1-2); withdrew from Guangzhou w/left wrist injury.
