Grand Slam champions Zheng Jie and Yan Zi will start the Pacific Life Open in California today buoyed by news that they ranked 12th on the Forbes 2007 Chinese celebrity rich list.

The duo becpme the first tennis players to crack the top 100 after their combined prize money and sponsorship revenues topped 14 million yuan ($1.8 million).

They are the third-ranked athletes following NBA All-star center Yao Ming, who tops the list with 260 million yuan ($34 million), and 110-meter hurdles world record holder Liu Xiang (58 million yuan/$7.5 million).

They enjoy a big cushion ahead of other top-notch athletes, including snooker prodigy Ding Junhui, 41st on the list with 4.5 million yuan ($580,000) and table tennis world champion Zhang Yining, 64th with an income of 3.1 million yuan ($400,000).

However, Zheng and Yan have to give 60 percent of their prize money back to the Tennis Administrative Center.

In last year's breakthrough season for the Chinese women's game, the Sichuan duo won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, together with another four trophies at Berlin, Rabat, Hertogenbosch and New Haven in a 47-13 season.

The duo lost in the semifinal to Chinese Taipei's Chan Yung-Jan and Chuang Chia-Jung at this year's Australian Open, but they are not letting the disappointment get them down.

"The Olympic Games is coming so our target on the Tour is getting higher. We will try to win the doubles' titles in all the tournaments we compete," Zheng told China Daily last month.

Joining Zheng in Indian Wells will be the country's No 1 singles player and 12th-seed Li Na, 30th seed Peng Shuai, Sun Tiantian and Yuan Meng.

Li Na will face either Spain's Virginia Pascual or Australian Nicole Pratt after a first-round bye while Zheng will face off with a qualifier.

China's tennis authorities have added pressure on the players this season in a bid to ensure they are at the top of their games come Beijing 2008.

In June an Olympics Points System will be introduced, which will rank players according to their tournament performance.

In the past first round exits have been tolerated, but under the new system players who fall at the first hurdle may lose prize money.

(China Daily March 8, 2007)