game. She favors hardcourts and two-handed forehand (though her backhand is the better side). At age 13, Peng was admitted to a hospital for heart surgery to repair a defect, a situation which she explained in the 2008 "Impossible is Nothing" campaign from Adidas. Following surgery, in 1999 she joined the state training program in Tianjin aimed at producing internationally competitive athletes, especially Olympians. 2001–2004: Debut on the ITF Circuit In June 2001, the 15-year-old Peng won her first singles title at Baotou, a $10k tournament, defeating countrywoman Sun Tiantian in the semifinal. In October, she debuted on the WTA Tour at Shanghai as a wildcard. In February 2002, Peng won her third $10k singles title. The following week, she extended her winning streak to twelve and reached the final of a $25k tournament at New Delhi before losing the championship match to Eva Birnerová. Further success proved elusive, and she took nearly seven months off from competition at singles events, ending the year with a world ranking of 358. In 2003, she won her first $25k title at Jackson, Mississippi and her first $50k event at Changsha, improving her year-end ranking to 226. In 2004, she won her first $75k tournament at Dothan, Alabama. She rose up to No. 107 in the rankings and gained her direct entry into her first Grand Slam main draw at Wimbledon. She was defeated there by 14th seed Silvia Farina Elia. Peng reached her first WTA Tour quarterfinal at Cincinnati in August, where she lost to second seed Vera Zvonareva. By the end of 2004, Peng had won her eighth ITF singles title at Shenzhen-2. She ended the year ranking 73 in the world and was able to focus solely on WTA events thereafter. 2005–2007: Solo In mid-2000s, Peng decided to "fly solo" and no longer give over half of her earnings to the state training program. She and three other Chinese players broke out of the state's control by effectively threatening to stop playing. At the Australian Open, Peng won her first Grand Slam singles match, defeating Maria Elena Camerin before being overcome by Venus Williams in the second round. In September 2005, she reached two further WTA quarterfinals at Beijing and Guangzhou, ultimately finishing the year ranking 37th. In 2006, Peng lost her first-round ties at the Australian Open, withdrew from subsequent tournaments, and dropped out of the top 60 after