Li Na Makes History For China
Last year Li Na made it all the way to the Australian Open semifinals before being bundled out by eventual champion Serena Williams. Li put the tennis world on notice losing in two tie-break sets to the then world no. 1.
One year later Li again was facing the world no. 1 in a semifinal. This time it was Caroline Wozniacki, a player yet to taste grand slam success.
Wozniacki got the early break and went onto win the first set. In the second Li faced a match point however she managed to fight her way past that and then slowly took control of the match.
Eventually Li found herself in a position to win the match and that is what she did. The final score was 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
With the win came a huge milestone. Li became the first Asian women to reach a grand slam singles final.
Now the challenge is to become the first Chinese player to win a grand slam singles title. She faces Kim Clijsters a three-time US Open champion. They met just before the Australian Open when Li Na beat Clijsters in the Sydney tournament.
What will this mean for Chinese tennis? This is what Li had to say in her press conference after her semifinal win. “I think maybe because right now I was come to the final, maybe many young player or children will see and think, Maybe one day we can do the same or even better than her. So someday they will feel more confident because, how you say, not China Tennis Federation, over the Federation, maybe they are not so interested in tennis.
But right now, maybe they say, Oh, maybe we should be looking around tennis. So I think even we do more better and I feeling more, how you say, more people come watch, more people to pay attention.”
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