Fans started to criticize her professional attitude, a charge she fiercely contested.

"I just want to play tennis, that's simple," she said at the time. "I have never tried to challenge the authority of the Chinese Tennis Association. I don't want to make trouble. I tried very hard to concentrate on the court. If I hurt anybody, I have to say I didn't mean it."

Having hit rock bottom in her career, the Hunan star teamed up with Chinese-American legend Michael Chang and bounced back.

Peng beat Martina Hingis and Amelie Maresmo back-to-back at the China Open in Beijing last year, savoring her comeback.

"Maybe you think I am very lucky because I can play big tournaments and earn prize money, but I can tell you being a professional player is a very, very tough job," she said afterwards.

"I even considered retirement I had injuries and couldn't find my form, and tons of people blamed me. It was my mom and my fans who supported me and gave me the belief to continue my career."

Despite losing to Russian teenager Alisa Kleybanova 5-7, 6-4, 7-9 in the first round of the Australian Open, Peng was more confident about herself.

"I really trust myself, this is a big step for me," she said. "I had a lot of confidence coming into the new season. It has already passed that I lost at the Australian Open, but I will turn up again in the future competitions."

Peng's renewed confidence has been boosted by her partnership with Athens gold medalist Sun Tiantian at the Beijing Olympics.

The pair was quickly given the nickname "Tian-Shuai" by Chinese media, meaning "sweet and graceful". The pair has been fairly successful so far, making it into the third round at Melbourne this month and winning some matches against top pairs last year.

"It's quite comfortable playing with Peng," doubles veteran Sun said. "I think we've got great rhythm because our games are similar. Peng is a very powerful player and things are much easier when she is around."

Chinese officials appreciate Peng's talent and cleverness and seem to have forgotten the unpleasant memories.

"She is a great player anyway," said Sun Jinfang, director of the Administrative Center of Tennis. "Peng is the backbone of our national team, that's for sure. She is strong, talented and very motivated. She's got everything you can ask for in an athlete.

"I don't call her a troublemaker. It is quite usual that your child sometimes has different ideas than you. You cannot get rid of her just because you had a quarrel last night."

Sun added that Peng gets an unfair reputation.

"I know how media and fans think of her. If you ever watched her training and competition live, you'd know she is not the girl you read about in the newspaper," she said.

"Her performance will be crucial for us to achieve our Olympic goals. I am expecting a lot from her and I know she won't let me down."