1996 - Played first event at ITF/Beijing-CHN.
1997 - Did not play.
1998 - Did not play.
1999 - Won three singles titles and eight doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2000 - Played first three WTA main draws, falling 1r at Tashkent and Olympics (l. to Sánchez-Vicario) but reaching 2r at Shanghai; fell in qualifying twice (incl.
US Open); won one WTA doubles title; won eight singles titles and six doubles titles on ITF Circuit.
2001 - Fell 1r once and in qualifying twice (
Australian Open,
Wimbledon); won two singles titles and one doubles title on ITF Circuit.
2002 - Won one singles title on ITF Circuit.
2003 - Did not play.
2004 - First Top 100 season; played two WTA main draws, reaching 2r at Beijing (l. to new
US Open champion Kuznetsova 63 67(6) 76(3); held 2mp third set) and winning first WTA title at Guangzhou (d. Sucha in final; was first Chinese to win a WTA title); made Top 100 debut on October 2 (rose from No.145 to No.92); won five singles and one doubles title on ITF Circuit.
2005 - Another Top 100 season; runner-up at Estoril (l. to Safarova in final); SF three times, at Hobart (l. to Zheng), Rabat (ret. vs. Zheng w/right ankle sprain) and Bali (l. to Davenport); QF twice, at Hyderabad and Guangzhou; reached 3r twice (incl. in Grand Slam debut at
Australian Open) and 2r twice; fell 1r four times (incl.
US Open); made Top 50 debut on February 14 (rose from No.57 to No.50); missed
Wimbledon competing in Chinese national championships.
2006 - First Top 30 season; runner-up at Estoril (ret. vs. Zheng w/heat illness in first all-Chinese WTA final); SF at Berlin (l. to Petrova); QF six times, at Doha, Strasbourg,
Wimbledon (first Chinese to reach a Grand Slam QF; l. to Clijsters), Stockholm, Beijing and Guangzhou; reached 4r twice (incl.
US Open), 3r twice (incl.
Roland Garros) and 2r four times; fell 1r six times (incl.
Australian Open); had two ranking breakthroughs for China, becoming first Chinese to crack Top 30 (after Birmingham on June 19; rose from No.32 to No.30) and first Chinese to crack Top 20 (after Stockholm on August 14; rose from No.22 to No.20); won one WTA doubles title.
2007 - Another Top 30 season; SF twice, at Sydney (l. to Clijsters) and Indian Wells (l. to Hantuchova); QF three times, at Miami, Strasbourg and Birmingham; reached 4r once (
Australian Open), 3r twice (incl.
Roland Garros) and 2r four times; fell 1r once; withdrew from all events after Birmingham w/right rib stress fracture (incl.
Wimbledon,
US Open).
2008 - Another Top 30 season; won second WTA title at Gold Coast in first week back from six-month injury lay-off (d. Azarenka in final); SF four times, at Antwerp (l. to Knapp), Doha (l. to Zvonareva), Olympics (l. to Safina; l. to Zvonareva in bronze medal match) and Luxembourg (l. to Wozniacki); QF at Stuttgart; reached 4r once (
US Open), 3r once (
Australian Open) and 2r twice (incl.
Wimbledon); fell 1r four times; withdrew from 10 events w/right knee injury (incl.
Roland Garros); had surgery on it on March 31 and returned to action in June.
2009 - First Top 20 season (finishing No.15); runner-up twice, at Monterrey (l. to Bartoli in final) and Birmingham (l. to Rybarikova in final); SF at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (l. to Jankovic); QF twice, at Miami and
US Open (second Grand Slam QF; l. to Clijsters); reached 4r twice (incl.
Roland Garros), 3r three times (incl.
Wimbledon) and 2r four times; fell 1r three times; withdrew from six tournaments during season w/right knee injury (incl.
Australian Open).
2010 - Near-Top 10 season (finishing No.11); won third WTA title at Birmingham (d. Sharapova in final); SF four times, at
Australian Open (first Grand Slam SF; l. to S.Williams), Warsaw (l. to Dulgheru), Copenhagen (l. to Zakopalova) and Beijing (l. to Zvonareva); QF five times, at Dubai (ret. w/back injury), Stuttgart, Madrid,
Wimbledon (l. to S.Williams) and Bali; reached 3r three times (incl.
Roland Garros) and 2r three times (incl. Indian Wells - l. to Baltacha 76(6) 26 76(7); held 3mp in third set tie-break); fell 1r five times (incl.
US Open and Eastbourne - ret. w/left thigh strain); made Top 10 debut on February 1 (after
Australian Open; rose from No.17 to No.10; first Chinese in Top 10); withdrew from Estoril w/back injury and from Tokyo w/GI illness.
2011 - First Top 5 season (finishing No.5), highlighed by two phenomenal stretches around first two Grand Slams; went 11-1 in Australia, winning fourth WTA title at Sydney (d. Clijsters in final; first Chinese to win a Premier title) and reaching first Grand Slam final at
Australian Open (l. to Clijsters in final; first Asian, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam final); went 13-2 in last three events of clay court season, reaching SFs at Madrid (l. to Kvitova) and Rome (l. to Stosur) then winning first Grand Slam title at
Roland Garros (d. Schiavone in final; was first Asian, male or female, to win a Grand Slam title); equalled Asian ranking record afterwards on June 6 (rose from No.7 to No.4, tying Japan's Date-Krumm for highest-ranked Asian ever); went 1-5 between February and May, losing opening matches at Dubai (l. to Wickmayer 67(6) 76(6) 62; held 4mp at 6-2 in second set tie-break), Doha, Indian Wells and Miami (l. to Larsson 75 67(5) 76(5); held 3mp at 5-4 third set) and second match at Stuttgart; went 6-9 after
Roland Garros, reaching one SF at New Haven (l. to Cetkovska 62 57 76(9); held mp at 8-7 in third set tie-break) but losing early at all seven other events, incl.
Wimbledon (l. to Lisicki 36 64 86 in 2r; held 2mp at 5-3 third set),
US Open (l. to Halep in 1r) and in RR stage at first WTA Championships (went 1-2 in RR, d. Sharapova but losing to Azarenka and Stosur); withdrew from Tokyo w/right knee injury.
