When Zheng reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last season, it was portrayed as a major shock.

Yet the fact that the Chinese star is now ranked among the top 20 shows the real story.

Zheng was ranked 133 and playing on a wild card when she embarked on her SW19 run, one which saw her take out top seed Ana Ivanovic before running into Serena Williams.

However, she was only ranked so low due to an ankle injury which ruined her 2007 campaign - the ankle brace she still wears today is a reminder of that..

Her efforts last season saw Zheng named the tour's Comeback Player of the Year and now she has risen to a new high in the rankings.

Has shown she can compete with the best, recently pushing eventual champion and world number one Dinara Safina to a final-set tie-break in Rome.

Despite that, a repeat of last season's heroics in SW19 seems unlikely.

Suffered a shock early exit at Roland Garros, losing in straight sets to Michelle Larcher de Brito in round two.