"If you know the enemy and know yourself," wrote Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, "you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." Two and a half millennia later, another battle is shaping up in China. Tomorrow marks the world premiere of World Table Tennis (WTT), the revolutionary reinvention of our favorite sport courtesy of the obsessive tinkerers at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). 32 of the world's top players are already quarantined in Macao, China, for the WTT debut. Among the 16 women playing is reigning American national champion Lily Zhang, the 24-year-old ranked 27th in the world. Two weeks ago, she logged upset after upset to reach the quarterfinals of the ITTF Women's World Cup in Weihai, China, losing to champion-elect Chen Meng. In the interim, Zhang has remained sequestered, hopping from one bubble to the next in what amounts to the "new normal" for international athletes. While making the most of the limited practice opportunities, Zhang surely wondered whom she would face in the groundbreaking tournament. Now, she focus her plan of attack on a specific target. WTT has announced the first round draws, and Zhang will face Petrissa Solja, the world #20 from Germany. Solja, 26, is in good form herself, last week having reached the quarterfinals of last week's ITTF Finals in Zhengzhou, losing to champion-elect Chen Meng. (That is not a typo—the indomitable Chen Meng won both the World Cup and the ITTF Finals.) With both Lily Zhang and Petrissa Solja exhibiting world-class form against world-class competition, their first-round matchup promises to be an explosive encounter. Both players are surely eager to graduate from the qualifying group, hoping to earn a rematch with top seed Chen Meng. Tomorrow, however, before WTT Macao plays host to a hundred battles, we must first ascertain as certain who best knows her opponent, and herself.

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