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Jonathan Powell

Name: Jessica Yang Zi-jun

Age: 15

School: Hong Kong Sports Institute

Sport: Tennis (right-handed)

Achievements: Jessica, born in Gansu  ,  is part of the three-member Hong Kong team who qualified - for the first time ever - for the world finals of the Junior Federation Cup  this year.

Jessica went into the competition, held in Barcelona, Spain, last week, with  a junior world ranking of 175. Her best career win to date came earlier this year when she clinched the singles title at the ITF Mercedes Cup (Grade 4) in Thailand.

She also claimed singles titles at the 2005 ITF Jeju Junior Championships (Grade 5) in South Korea, the Hong Kong ITF Junior Tournament, and a doubles title (with partner Zhang Ling) at the Maxx Hotel Junior Tennis Championships (Grade 5) in Thailand. Last year,  she won the under-14 singles and doubles titles at the China National Tournament in Beijing.

Soundbite: 'I enjoy competing and challenging myself to improve and climb up the rankings.'

From her coach (Benny Lin Bing-chao): 'Jessica is very talented and has the potential to be one of the top female tennis players in Asia. She has good hand-eye co-ordination and great feel for the ball, which is very essential in tennis. She possesses a sound technique, a warrior-like attitude and an ideal physique for tennis.

'Her game is very clean and quick as she takes the ball very early [aggressive baseliner]. In training she works very hard because of her strong desire to make the professional tour. Off the court, she's a bit shy but very friendly and kind to others.'

Ambitions:  Jessica's short-term target is to achieve a top-50  world junior ranking by next summer.   By 2010, she is aiming for a top-100  world ranking on the women's professional tour.



Tennis star aims for pro tour