Zheng Jie, the Chinese No.1 woman player, has made history for China by advancing to the third round of the French Open tennis tournament.

She beat France's 31st seeded Emilie Loit in straight sets and set up a third round clash with Italy's Tathiana Garbin, who stunned world number one Justine Henin-Hardenne.

Zheng has slowly climbed the WTA ladder in the past four years to reach 58th in the world.

Zheng, who came to Paris with her mother and cites Steffi Graf as her main inspiration, joined China's national team at 17.