LI NA
Li Na (Chinese: 李娜; pinyin: Lǐ Nà; born February 26, 1982 in Wuhan, Hubei), is a Chinese professional tennis player. She became the first Chinese player to reach the top 30 (in June 2006), top 20 (in August 2006) and top 10 (2010).
Li was also the first Chinese tennis player to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinals, doing so at Wimbledon in 2006. She has been one of the most successful tennis players in the country's history and with her highest ranking achieved on February 2009 as Asia and China's No. 1 female player, with a world ranking of No. 10 at the time. By reaching the semi-finals of the 2010 Australian Open, Li became the first Chinese player to enter the top 10. She is currently ranked World No. 11.
From the central China metropolis of Wuhan, Li was a badminton player when she was 6 but her coach kept noticing that she looked as if she were playing tennis. By the time she was 8, her coach asked her parents if she could switch to tennis. Her father died when she was 14.
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.
She is noted in her playing style for quick reflexes and athleticism around the court and fast groundstrokes which she scatters unpredictably to all corners of the playing surface.
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 Ting Li; 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 that have interrupted her from playing for lengthy periods, and often preventing her from being highly ranked. 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.
During the 2010 Australian Open, Li and compatriot Zheng Jie made history for becoming the first two Chinese players to reach the top four of a Grand Slam tournament simultaneously.
Li was also the first Chinese tennis player to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinals, doing so at Wimbledon in 2006. She has been one of the most successful tennis players in the country's history and with her highest ranking achieved on February 2009 as Asia and China's No. 1 female player, with a world ranking of No. 10 at the time. By reaching the semi-finals of the 2010 Australian Open, Li became the first Chinese player to enter the top 10. She is currently ranked World No. 11.
From the central China metropolis of Wuhan, Li was a badminton player when she was 6 but her coach kept noticing that she looked as if she were playing tennis. By the time she was 8, her coach asked her parents if she could switch to tennis. Her father died when she was 14.
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.
She is noted in her playing style for quick reflexes and athleticism around the court and fast groundstrokes which she scatters unpredictably to all corners of the playing surface.
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 Ting Li; 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 that have interrupted her from playing for lengthy periods, and often preventing her from being highly ranked. 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.
During the 2010 Australian Open, Li and compatriot Zheng Jie made history for becoming the first two Chinese players to reach the top four of a Grand Slam tournament simultaneously.
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