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Li thrills fans at stadium opening
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China’s two-time grand slam winner Li Na opened a new 15,000-seat stadium at the Wuhan Open in central China’s Hubei Province yesterday to huge cheers from her hometown fans.
The new stadium has been built on the back of Li’s career success — she was the first Asian to win a grand slam singles title — that saw the popularity of tennis surge in China.
Huge applause echoed through the stadium as Li, now retired, stepped onto the court attired in red and was joined by the tournament’s defending champion Petra Kvitova to open the new stadium officially.
Similar in capacity to Wimbledon’s center court, the new stadium is dwarfed only by the US Open’s Arthur Ashe stadium which can sit 23,000. It has a retractable roof and a metal and glass structure reminiscent of the iconic “Bird’s Nest” Stadium in Beijing, the centerpiece of the 2008 Olympics.
Czech Kvitova, the world No. 4, won the inaugural Women’s Tennis Association Wuhan Open last year, and is joined for the 2015 edition by 18 of the world’s top-20 players.
“I am very happy to be here again and the stadium looks wonderful and I will try my best to fight for the title,” she said.
Kvitova added that Li, who was a friend when they were both on the circuit, has promised to let her meet her new daughter Alisa, who was born in June. Mention of the baby’s name prompted more excited applause from the crowd.
Li, who has rarely appeared in public since retiring and giving birth, said: “One year ago, I came here for the farewell ceremony, now one year later, I’m standing on this court as a mother.”
Li now has plans to open her own tennis academy. “Now it’s under preparation, so please be patient,” she told the crowd.
The WTA first opened an office in Beijing in 2008, when there were only two events in Chinese mainland. This year there were 10 women’s tournaments in China.
The Wuhan Open with a US$2.4 million purse, is the penultimate qualifying tournament before the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Day one of matches saw China’s only two players in the tournament knocked out.
Zheng Saisai, China’s top ranked player at 66th, crashed out against American Varvara Lepchenko, 4-6, 0-6, while Liu Fangzhou also lost her first round match to Romanian Monica Niculescu in two sets.
Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, semifinalist at last year’s Wuhan Open, sailed into the second round with a 6-4, 6-4 win over wildcard entrant Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.
Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus knocked out American youngster Lauren Davis 6-2, 7-6 (4) while Mirjana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia beat former US Open champion Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 6-1.
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