KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 10 Lee Zii Jia is ready to roar at the French Open in Paris.
Zii Jia will kick off his campaign against Denmark's Magnus Johannesen tomorrow.
Under the guidance of coach Wong Tat Meng, Zii Jia has been recording impressive results in Europe since 2020.
The Kedah-born player reached the semi-finals 11 times and secured two titles in five finals — claiming victory at the 2021 All England and the Finnish Arctic Open last year.
Starting this season with a series of notable results, Zii Jia advanced to the quarter-finals in two out of three tournaments at the India Open and the Indonesia Masters.
He also helped the Malaysian men's team to finish runners-up at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) in Shah Alam last month. He won all three matches in the tournament.
Tat Meng said Zii Jia has exhibited positive improvement since he began coaching him in July last year.
However, Tat Meng reminded fans that the shuttler still needs time to fully adjust to the training programme.
"There has been improvement, but not too rapidly. I don't expect his performance to improve quickly as I have only been his coach for a few months."
"He has become more stable and confident with my training style. He needs time to adapt to different training styles," said Tat Meng.
This year's French Open offers Zii Jia an opportunity to improve his world ranking. He will move up two rungs if he reaches the final in Paris.
However, it will not be an easy task for the former Asian champion.
Zii Jia will likely face second seed Shi Yuqi of China if he beats Johannesen in his opening match.
Others in the same half of Zii Jia's draw include Denmark's world No.3 Anders Antonsen and Japan's No.6 Kodai Naraoka.
After the French Open, Zii Jia will compete in the All England next week and the Swiss Open on March 19-24.