Chinese sensation Jie Zheng to donate Wimbledon earnings to quake-hit Sichuan

Jie Zheng (24), the first Chinese tennis player to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon, has decided to donate all her earnings from the tournament towards the welfare of people in her home province Sichuan, which was rocked by a massive earthquake killing around 60,000 people.

London, July 3 : Jie Zheng (24), the first Chinese tennis player to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon, has decided to donate all her earnings from the tournament towards the welfare of people in her home province Sichuan, which was rocked by a massive earthquake killing around 60,000 people.

Now pitted against Serena Williams in the semi-finals, Jie is expected to win at least 187,500 pounds in prize money, if she loses to her opponent. But, her win would mean more prize money, which would, in turn, mean more donations for the quake-hit Sichuan province.

She said she wanted to do the maximum for her home province by donating all her Wimbledon prize money for the reconstruction work.

"Of course I will donate all of my portion. I will also do as much as I can to help the Sichuan region people because I'm from Sichuan province. When I go back after Wimbledon I'll do more charity work and encourage more people to support the stricken region and hope people from Sichuan will have their new home as soon as possible,." The Sun quoted Jie as saying.

Jie, who was ranked at No27 two years ago, injured her ankle at the French Open last year and missed the rest of the season - including Wimbledon. It meant she was unable to defend the women's doubles title she won in 2006 and her ranking also went down the gurgler.

ANI