Sun knows being an Olympic champion is not enough to ensure a repeat - especially when the talent pool is growing
Take it to a new level. That's the mission for Athens tennis doubles gold medallist Sun Tiantian.
With a welter of talented players appearing on the scene in China, Sun understands more effort is needed if she is to smash her way to glory in 2008.
If recent results are anything to go by, the Chinese players ahead of Sun - whose WTA Tour ranking in doubles is 37 - are Zheng Jie and Yan Zi, who have rankings of 31 and 32 respectively.
In singles, Sun (right) dropped from 91 to 100, a long way behind compatriots Peng Shuai, who is ranked 33 in the world, Zheng Jie (42) and Li Na (56).
'Obviously, my deepest desire is to participate in the 2008 games,' said the 24-year-old Sun, who is from Henan province.
Sun and partner Li Ting pulled off a major surprise in Athens last year by winning China's first-ever gold medal in tennis. In the final, the pair trounced second seeds Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual, from Spain, 6-3, 6-3.
'It'll be very difficult to get a place because that will be determined by world rankings. Based on the rankings, I am faced with a big challenge, but I will try my best. I hope I can play both in the singles and the doubles in 2008,' the Olympic champion said.
The right-hander took up tennis training at Henan Provincial Spare-time Sports School in 1989. Three years later, she joined the provincial team, but it was not until 2000 that she became a national training member.
Although Sun lost to Zheng in the National Games semi-finals last month and could only finish third in the singles, she climbed to her highest world ranking of 88 last month. This happened a month after she upset defending champion Serena Williams in the second round of the China Open in Beijing, beating the celebrated American in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). But Sun failed to progress any further, losing to Russia's Maria Kirilenko in the quarter-finals.
'I think my performance in the singles has improved a lot so I'll not only focus on the doubles,' she said.
Having expressed the belief that an Olympic gold medal means a lot more than winning a grand slam and 'we will be even better in the next Olympics', Sun said she needed to improve her technique in the coming years, from serving to baseline play to her all-round efficiency.
'I'll strive to win another Olympic medal, a gold one,' she promised.
