Chinese Tennis Player Li Na: Playing Career of Li Na from China

This is one of the Grand Slam tournaments in Tennis. She is now ranked number four in the world of women’s tennis.

Twenty nine year old Li Na became the first Asian woman to win any Grand Slam Tennis Tournament. She beat Francesca Schiavone from Italy 6-4, 7-6.

Francesca Schiavone had won the French Open last year and was the defending champion. Over 116 Million Chinese viewers watched the final on TV in China.

No Asian man or woman had ever won any of the Grand Slam Tennis Tournaments before. This will soon change as Li Na has inspired many hundreds of thousands of young Chinese people to become engrossed in the game.

The Chinese Government are reported to have already built more tennis courts for the young Chinese children to learn and practise the game of tennis.

Li Na has become their hero and many of the children want to one day become a tennis champion just like her.

Li Na was born in Wuhan,Hubei,China on February 26, 1982. At the age of six Li Na began to play badminton and her coach noticed she could be a better tennis player.

So with the permission of her parents Li Na was switched to the game of tennis when she was nine years old. Li Na joined China's National Tennis Team at the age of fifteen in 1997. She became a professional woman tennis play at the age of seventeen in 1999.

But in a surprising career move at the age of twenty in 2002 Li Na quit the Chinese National Tennis Team to go to the University of Science and Technology at Huazhong.

She returned to the Chinese National Team in 2004 and to professional tennis as a player. But she left her National team again four years later. She also married Jiang Shan.

In 2009 she gained a Bachelor Degree in Journalism.

Li Na has being playing better tennis since the beginning of this year.

It was her success at getting into the final of the Australian Open in January that has increased her earning power with sponsorship deals.

Her main sponsor is Rolex who sell expensive but excellent watches. She also secured a deal with the ice cream maker Haagen-Dazs among others.

She has now won twenty four WTA and ITF singles titles.She is number four in the World Tennis Association female rankings. Li Na. born in China is the first Asian tennis player, male or female to win a Grand Slam Tennis Tournament.

© Copyright 2011. L.M. Reid