Zheng Jie, the darling of last year's Wimbledon tournament, will have to try again next year, after losing to unseeded Daniela Hantuchova in a second-round match yesterday.

Chengdu native Zheng was ahead of Hantuchova early on yesterday before the Slovakian rallied back from being down 3-1 to win the first set 6-3. Hantuchova won the hard fought second set 7-5.

Zheng admitted that high expectations back home in China added to the already high pressure of performing in Wimbledon.


Last year Zheng shocked the tennis world by becoming the first Chinese tennis player to make it to the semifinal round in a grand slam tournament and only the second wild card ever to make it to the Wimbledon semis.

Zheng's exit leaves Li Na as the only Chinese player remaining in the tournament. Li will play her second-round match against Olga Govortsova of Belorus later today.