Li Na Chinese Female Tennis Player

Li Na (born February 26, 1982) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Li has won 5 WTA and 19 ITF singles titles. She is ranked World No. 6 by WTA after her upset performance at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships.

 

Li won the 2011 French Open singles title, making her the first Asian country representative to win a Grand Slam in singles. She had been the first player from an Asian country to appear in a Grand Slam singles final with her performance at the 2011 Australian Open.

 

Between 1999 and 2004, Li won 20 women's singles titles: 19 ITF events and one—the first ever won by a Chinese woman—on the WTA Tour. In January 2008, she won her second WTA Tour title after a drought of over three and a quarter years.

 

Li also frequently enters doubles tournaments at events alongside singles, and has won two WTA doubles titles and 16 further ITF doubles events. Her early success in doubles came mostly with Li Ting (unrelated); but more recently she has made a habit of forming temporary women's doubles partnerships with players with whom she has previously enjoyed a healthy rivalry through repeated head-to-head meetings in singles tournaments, notably Liu Nan-Nan, Nicole Pratt, Yan Zi, Jelena Janković, and Peng Shuai.

 

Her career has been plagued by injuries and other troubles that have prevented her from playing for lengthy periods. She suffered a two-year hiatus from competition in her early 20s, lost several months at the height of the 2005 season to an ankle injury, and lost the second half of 2007 to a rib injury.

 

Li's first tournament of 2010 was the 2010 ASB Classic in Auckland. where she was seeded second. She was defeated by Kaia Kanepi in the first round 6–1 6–3. In the Medibank International she defeated 4th seed Caroline Wozniacki 2–6 6–3 6–2. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in the second round, 2–6, 6–7.

 

Li was seeded 16th at the 2010 Australian Open. She defeated World No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki in the 4th round 6–4 6–3 and then came from a set and 3–5 down to defeat World No. 6 Venus Williams 2–6, 7–6, 7–5 in her first ever Australian Open quarterfinal, and only her third ever Grand Slam quarterfinals. In the semi-finals she lost to Serena Williams 7–6, 7–6. As a result of this performance, Li was the first Chinese woman ever to be ranked in the Top 10 of women's professional tennis.

 

Li's first tournament of 2010 was the 2010 ASB Classic in Auckland. where she was seeded second. She was defeated by Kaia Kanepi in the first round 6–1 6–3. In the Medibank International she defeated 4th seed Caroline Wozniacki 2–6 6–3 6–2. She lost to Flavia Pennetta in the second round, 2–6, 6–7.

 

Li was seeded 16th at the 2010 Australian Open. She defeated World No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki in the 4th round 6–4 6–3 and then came from a set and 3–5 down to defeat World No. 6 Venus Williams 2–6, 7–6, 7–5 in her first ever Australian Open quarterfinal, and only her third ever Grand Slam quarterfinals. In the semi-finals she lost to Serena Williams 7–6, 7–6. As a result of this performance, Li was the first Chinese woman ever to be ranked in the Top 10 of women's professional tennis.

 

Li won her first Grand Slam title and become the first Grand Slam singles champion born in an Asian country at the 2011 French Open. Seeded 6th, she defeated Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Silvia Soler Espinosa, Sorana Cîrstea, 9th seed Petra Kvitová, 4th seed Victoria Azarenka, 7th seed Maria Sharapova and 5th seed and defending champion Francesca Schiavone in the final. After the match, Li Na was praised by the Chinese media and her popularity throughout China is expected to grow significantly in the following months, as she became the first ever Chinese singles player to win a tennis Grandslam title. Following the French Open, Li reached a career high ranking of World No. 4.

 

As the 2nd seed at the 2011 AEGON International, Li fell in the second round to Daniela Hantuchová.

Due to the withdrawal of Kim Clijsters, Li was the 3rd seed at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships. She beat Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round. She lost in the second round to eventual semi-finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany 3–6, 6–4, 8–6, even though she had two match points at 5-3 and served for the match twice at 5-4 and 6-5.

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