Wimbledon next stop for China's newest star
By Jia Feishang |
June 6, 2011, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S newest sports star has set her sights on next month's Wimbledon Open.
Instead of heading home or taking a break after her historic win in Paris, Li Na will travel to England to begin her grass court preparations for the year's third major.
"The biggest right now after the French Open in the next two weeks is Wimbledon, so I don't have time to go back to China right now," she told Xinhua news agency.
"So I go back after Wimbledon. If I don't do well in Wimbledon, maybe people forget me already. These are tough times, you know."
Hitting the headlines with her historic victory at the French Open, Li has now joined the illustrious ranks of basketball legend Yao Ming and hurdler extraordinaire Liu Xiang in the list of Chinese athletes known around the world.
In Paris on Saturday, the 29-year-old became the first Asian tennis player to win a grand slam singles title and it was reported that more than 100 million people tuned in to watch the final on television.
By yesterday, more than 2.1 million people had become followers of her microblog.
And she may have endeared herself to the many wives watching when she lost her temper with her husband during the final. After Francesca Schiavone broke her service game in the second set, Li yelled at Jiang Shan in Hubei dialect: "Why don't you cheer up for me? Don't just sit there!"
Jiang, once her teammate on the national team, was her coach before Denmark's Michael Mortensen took over in early May.
Li turned professional in 1999 but 2009 marked a significant step in her career when she and three other top Chinese women players - Zheng Jie, Peng Shuai and Yan Zi - were allowed to manage their own affairs after run-ins with the Chinese Tennis Association over training arrangements and pay.
Li's success has raised questions over the way China handles its athletes. Before 2009, Li and her teammates on the national squad did not have their own coaches, and they could only take part in games the country allowed them to. They also had to hand over about 65 percent of their prize money. Now she only needs to hand in 8 to 12 percent.
Li has often criticized the system and frankly tells the media that she is partly driven by money, something few Chinese athletes admit.
Instead of heading home or taking a break after her historic win in Paris, Li Na will travel to England to begin her grass court preparations for the year's third major.
"The biggest right now after the French Open in the next two weeks is Wimbledon, so I don't have time to go back to China right now," she told Xinhua news agency.
"So I go back after Wimbledon. If I don't do well in Wimbledon, maybe people forget me already. These are tough times, you know."
Hitting the headlines with her historic victory at the French Open, Li has now joined the illustrious ranks of basketball legend Yao Ming and hurdler extraordinaire Liu Xiang in the list of Chinese athletes known around the world.
In Paris on Saturday, the 29-year-old became the first Asian tennis player to win a grand slam singles title and it was reported that more than 100 million people tuned in to watch the final on television.
By yesterday, more than 2.1 million people had become followers of her microblog.
And she may have endeared herself to the many wives watching when she lost her temper with her husband during the final. After Francesca Schiavone broke her service game in the second set, Li yelled at Jiang Shan in Hubei dialect: "Why don't you cheer up for me? Don't just sit there!"
Jiang, once her teammate on the national team, was her coach before Denmark's Michael Mortensen took over in early May.
Li turned professional in 1999 but 2009 marked a significant step in her career when she and three other top Chinese women players - Zheng Jie, Peng Shuai and Yan Zi - were allowed to manage their own affairs after run-ins with the Chinese Tennis Association over training arrangements and pay.
Li's success has raised questions over the way China handles its athletes. Before 2009, Li and her teammates on the national squad did not have their own coaches, and they could only take part in games the country allowed them to. They also had to hand over about 65 percent of their prize money. Now she only needs to hand in 8 to 12 percent.
Li has often criticized the system and frankly tells the media that she is partly driven by money, something few Chinese athletes admit.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
