This article first appeared in the Mar/Apr 2011 issue of World Gaming magazine.
Chinese tennis has announced its arrival to the world, thanks to Li Na and her incredible performance in this year’s Australian Open. Kim Clijsters triumphed in the third set of the epic final but it won’t be long before Li Na claims the ultimate prize in women’s tennis.
China’s greatest ever tennis player has fallen at the last hurdle, just one match short of winning a prestigious Grand Slam singles title. The first Chinese player ever to reach a Grand Slam singles final lost to Belgium great Kim Clijsters, who was clearly the best player in this year’s tournament. After Li won the first set it looked as though an upset might be on the cards, but years of experience at the highest level saw the Belgium great guts out an impressive victory. Li had beaten Clijsters earlier in the year at the Medibank International in Sydney but a Grand Slam final is a different tale altogether. Falling so agonisingly close to a historic victory will be painful for Li in the short term, but the experience will prove invaluable for the future encounters she will inevitably face.
In the semi finals she came up against world number one Caroline Wozniacki. Li had met and lost to the Danish superstar earlier in 2011 at the Hong Kong Tennis Classic. Wozniacki, still without a Grand Slam win despite her number one ranking, was also desperate to show she has what it takes to succeed in a Grand Slam tournament. The Dane started as a warm favourite at 1/2 on, with Li the outsider at around 6/4. The first set went easily to Wozniacki as Li made too many unforced errors. Li went down a break in the second set and was forced to save a match point as Wozniacki attempted to serve out the match. Then Li began to find her rhythm and the unforced errors were turning into clear winners. She fought back and won the second set and headed into the third clearly on top. Even though she went down a break early in the third set, she always looked in control. In a fine display of hard hitting, gut-wrenching women’s tennis Li prevailed over the luckless but valiant Wozniacki.
Kim Clijsters
With a powerful right hand, Li turned professional in 1999 and has since amassed over US$4.5 million in prize money. Before the 2011 Australian Open Li had won four WTA and 19 ITF titles.
Her first major breakthrough was in 2006 when she reached the quarter finals at Wimbledon but it would take until 2009 before her career truly started to blossom. She made it to the fourth round of the French Open, the quarter finals of the US Open and the third round of Wimbledon. In 2010 both Li and countrywomen Zheng Jie made the singles semi-finals of the Australian open and at the time World Gaming predicted she was bound for a consistent top 10 ranking and future glory.
Li indeed broke into the world’s top 10, but we expect her to be well entrenched in the top five soon, given the form she showed during her heroic efforts at this year’s Australian Open.
Li Na with her trophy
It hasn’t always been easy for the attacking girl from Wuhan in Hubei province who has battled through injuries that might have seen a lesser player give up the game. Bad ankle and rib injuries saw her lose valuable time early in her career, which meant she had to battle her way up the rankings time and time again.
Li has well and truly proven she has the hunger and ability to take Chinese tennis to the top of the world rankings where the big money and prestige are to be found. She has a solid command of the English language and handles the press with charm and humour. These attributes make her a great ambassador for Chinese tennis and we look forward to watching her smash her way to the top and continuing to inspire tennis fans and players throughout Asia.
Li Na rewrites the record books
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