Sport’s newest Chinese takeway

Yan and Zheng, who both won singles tournaments last year and were seeded 12th in the doubles at Melbourne, came from a set down and saved two match points in a second set tie-break before going on to win 2-6 7-6 6-3.

‘‘We feel very excited and very happy’’, Yan told reporters. ‘‘Little bit nervous. Because first time in the centre court. It’s so big and so many people.’’

Yan said the match, which was broadcast in China, would help strengthen the game there, although it was too early to tell if their win would have any impact on the Beijing Olympics.

‘‘It will be good for Chinese tennis’’, Yan said through an interpreter. ‘‘In the near future, we think we could be better, make progress, improve a lot, and it can stimulate (tennis).’’

China has been making big strides in women’s tennis in recent years, highlighted by Li Ting and Sun Tiantian’s victory in the women’s doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics. They have also won three WTA singles titles in the past two seasons.

‘‘There’s so many Chinese girls now’’, Raymond told a news conference. ‘‘When I first started playing, I couldn’t name one, you know, 10, 12 years ago. Now there’s, I don’t know how many were in the main draw here? And they have two very good doubles teams now.’’ (Reuters)