2004 August: Sun Tiantian and Li Ting win China’s first Olympic gold medal in the sport in the women’s doubles at the Athens Games. October: Li Na is the first Chinese to win a WTA Tour singles title, in Guangzhou.
2005 January: Zheng Jie wins her first WTA Tour title at Hobart.
Yan Yi and Zheng Jiekiss the trophy after winning the Australian Open doubles. Photo: AFP
2006 January: Zheng Jie and Yan Zi win China’s first grand slam title in the women’s doubles at the Australian Open. May: Zheng wins the first all-Chinese final at a WTA event when Li withdraws injured from the Estoril final. June: Li becomes the first Chinese player to reach the quarter-finals of grand slam at Wimbledon. Zheng and Yan win a second grand slam doubles title.
2008 June: Zheng, a 133rd-ranked wild card, beats top seed Ana Ivanovic on her way to the semi-finals at Wimbledon, the first Chinese to reach the last four at a grand slam. August: Zheng and Yan win bronze in women’s doubles at the Beijing Olympics, while Li misses out on a medal after defeat to Vera Zvonareva in the bronze medal match.
Zheng Jie on her way to the semi-finals at the 2010 Australian Open. Photo: EPA
2010 January: Zheng and Li reach the last four at the Australian Open, the first time China has had two players in the last four at a grand slam. They lose to Justine Henin and eventual champion Serena Williams respectively.
Li becomes the first Chinese player to reach the women’s top 10 in the world rankings.
2011 January: Li comes back from 5-0 down in the first set to beat Kim Clijsters in the final and win the Sydney International, her first “premier” level WTA title.
Peng Shuai beats seventh seed Jelena Jankovic on her way to her first grand slam fourth round appearance at Melbourne Park.
Li beats world number one and top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-finals of the Australian Open to become the first Chinese to reach a grand slam singles final, losing to Clijsters. June: Li reaches a second consecutive grand slam final at the French Open and beats holder Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 7-6 to become the first player from an Asian nation to win a grand slam singles title.
2013 January: Li reaches the Australian Open final for second time in three years only to be beaten again, this time by Victoria Azarenka.
Peng Shuai grimaces as she is placed in a wheelchair during her semi-final against Caroline Wozniacki at the US Open. Photo: Xinhua
2014 January: Li wins her second grand slam title by beating Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova in the Australian Open final.
September: Peng reaches the semi-finals of the US Open but is forced to retire because of heat illness.
