Much-hyped Chinese tennis suffered a heavy blow in the Doha Asian Games as the top-seeded Chinese women lost to Uzbekistan at the team quarter-finals on Tuesday.

Although Chinese women have started to shine in Grand Slam events like Australian Open and Wimbledon, they didn't show their professional brilliance in Doha,

Zheng Jie (file photo)

Zheng Jie, ranked 33rd in the world, didn't hit the top gear as she lost the first singles to 208th-ranked Akgul Amanmuradova 6-3,3-6, 7-6 in two hours and 38 minutes.

Li Na (file photo)

Asia's No. 1 and the world's 21st-ranked Li Na was not in form either, conceding a 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 game to Asian Games singles defending champion Iroda Tulyaganova.

Li, who made history by entering the last eight in Wimbledon this year, belted an uncharacteristic 48 unforced errors.

"I am content with the players' performance as they played well today. We prepared a lot for the match but it seemed that the players were too eager to win, which made them a little bit nervous," said Sun Jinfang, team manager of the Chinese team.

"It might be a good thing to lose a match at the Asian Games as our ultimate goal is the Beijing Olympics. We still have time to find out and make up for what we lack."

China, who came into Doha as the hottest favorites for the women's tennis events, withdrew from the meaningless doubles game.

Editor: Donald