Li Na ( 李娜 )

[chris-ccc]

Li, 29, has played only four matches since her victory at Roland Garros in June. However, she has signed at least $US42 million ($A38.5 million) of sponsorship deals this year with the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Rolex and Haagen-Dazs, which believe she could be the key to the lucrative Chinese market.

Her agent, Max Eisenbud, said it was ''hard to set a price'' after Li became the first Chinese to win a grand slam tournament.

At present, Li's earnings are second only to Maria Sharapova, the Russian she beat in the semi-finals in Paris, but they are likely to swap positions if she can continue to triumph in major tournaments.

For many Chinese, Li is a maverick. Known as ''China's No. 1 sister'' since her victory, she has a tattoo, has dyed her hair, and has been known to shout at her fans.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/sport/tenni...#ixzz1U3Ds48Us[/COLOR][/LEFT]

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Lin Dan should have followed Li Na going independent years ago.

It's great that Li Na has done it. For Lin Dan, it's too late now (I think).

Let's hope to find more top Chinese sportspersons participating as independent players (as compared to be just a teammate in a Chinese Sports Association).
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[Loh]

I do hope in the near future, we can find some young badminton talents converting to tennis while still in their mid-teens and making a mark like Li Na.

[Loh]

Our Asian tennis queen Li Na just repeated her French Open victory against the same opponent this year.

History repeats itself for her. She could well be the best paid woman professional tennis player in the world following her success last year as I would assume more giant corporations are clamoring for her, including more successful Chinese companies.

[King's]

In order to properly gauge Li Na's capabilities on red clay this year (a year older), she has to get past the first week. However, my chips are stack on Serena and to a lesser extent Maria.

[Loh]

Updated 04:53 AM Jun 03, 2012



PARIS - Last year's finalists Francesca Schiavone and Li Na headed in opposite directions at the French Open on Saturday when the Italian was knocked out in the third round and the Chinese fought her way through to the last 16 with a tough win.

Schiavone, the Roland Garros winner in 2010 and runner-up to Li last year, was unlucky to run into battling American Varvara Lepchenko for the second time in a month.

Lepchenko, who beat the world number 12 on Madrid's new blue clay four weeks ago, struck again, defeating Schiavone 3-6 6-3 8-6 in the midday sun on Court One.

Seventh seed Li had to fight hard against world number 36 Christina McHale of the United States before winning 3-6 6-2 6-1 and setting up a fourth-round match against Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Schedova.

Rafa Nadal continued his serene progress towards a record seventh men's French title with another straight-sets win in the day's final match on Philippe Chatrier Court.

The Spanish defending champion defeated good-humoured Argentine qualifier Eduardo Schwank 6-1 6-3 6-4 in two hours 16 minutes.

Nadal, who celebrates his 26th birthday on Sunday, will play either another Argentine, 13th seed Juan Monaco, or Canada's 19th seed Milos Raonic in the last 16.

HE WRITES 'SORRY!' IN CLAY

While her rivals for the women's title toiled, second seed Maria Sharapova swept past Peng Shuai of China 6-2 6-1 and has now spent eight minutes less on court in three matches than Schiavone and Lepchenko did in their single encounter.

On a hot day at Roland Garros, Russian Mikhail Youzhny melted hearts when he scrawled the word "SORRY!" in the clay with the toe of his shoe after winning only six points in the first eight games of a three-set thrashing by Spanish sixth seed David Ferrer.

"I just wanted to say sorry to the fans because they came to see a beautiful match but I simply could not give them that," Youzhny told Russian reporters after the 6-0 6-2 6-2 defeat.

MURRAY THROUGH

Fourth seed Andy Murray, who came close to withdrawing from his second-round match with a back problem on Thursday, looked a new man when he easily beat Colombia's Santiago Giraldo 6-3 6-4 6-4 to reach the last 16.

The Briton will now play 17th seed Richard Gasquet, who beat 34-year-old German Tommy Haas - a qualifier here - 6-7 6-3 6-0 6-0.

Murray said he had felt better on Friday and had done some light practice."I woke up this morning again feeling better than I did, but that's because of the work my physio has done the last 48 hours and all the recovery work that we've done between the last match and now," he told a news conference.

"So obviously with the rest and doing all the right things, I felt better."

FIGHTING TO THE END

Li, who last year became the first player from an Asian nation to win a grand-slam singles title, struggled with her serve at the start and blamed herself for being too passive.

"In the first set I was always following what she did, feeling like she was the champion on the court," Li told a news conference. "She is a very dangerous player; I was happy I could win... because I had more experience."

Czech fourth seed Petra Kvitova, the Wimbledon champion, had hoped to get a swift win on the Philippe Chatrier court after taking the first set against Nina Bratchikova in 28 minutes. The Russian upped her game however, and Kvitova needed a third set to win 6-2 4-6 6-1 and go through to a meeting with Lepchenko.

Uzbekistan-born Lepchenko was delighted to reach the fourth round of a grand-slam event for the first time. "I was fighting all the way to the end, I was trying to stay with Francesca the whole time," she told a news conference.

"She played amazing and it is her court and I knew that she was not going to give it away for free," added the left-hander, who has risen from 128 at the start of the year to 63 in the rankings. "I had to work really hard, and I did."

Italian Schiavone said she had been happy overall with the way she played but added: "I had my chances, I simply did not take them." - REUTERS


(Sorry, in my previous post I thought Li Na had won again. I now realized that the match that I watched on TV was a repeat of Li Na's victory over Schiavone last year, However, I hope she could repeat her fantastic performance again. )

[King's]

China’s defending champion Li Na (30) crashed out of the French Open on Monday, losing 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova in the fourth round and dashing Asia’s hopes of a second Grand Slam title.

World No 7 Li and a superstar in her homeland, was attempting to be the first French Open women’s champion to successfully defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007. “I just lost one match, so don’t try to push me down,” she told journalists in a petulant post-match interview. I will take some days off to totally forget tennis, then try to come back next week,” she said. “I need some time to recover, I’m not a machine.”

World number seven Li was attempting to be the first French Open women's champion to successfully defend the title since Justine Henin in 2007.


Kazakh qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova is ranked 142 in the world.

But after a confident start on Suzanne Lenglen court, the 30-year-old endured a spectacular meltdown in the second set and never recovered, notching 41 errors and ending up being broken seven times by her 24-year-old opponent.

"I lost one match so don't try to put me down," Li, who hasn't won a title since her Paris victory, snapped at a tense post-match news conference.

"This is tennis. I will try to find the reason why I lost."

[Loh]

Yes I watched part of the match on TV and was surprised that Li Na lost, especially so meekly in the third set.

Credit goes to Shvedova for her successful run so far. She seems to be much taller and gangly, not as polished. Hope she can surprise with another win in the QF.

[calibre]

If the world recognises badminton as the world faster racquet game, the world badminton body must do something to lift the popularity of the sport. Badminton no longer just a third world social sports, it required a unique skill and it test you quick reflexes ability. I believe one day badminton will rise.

[Loh]

Published on Jun 28, 2012



SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - China's top tennis player Li Na slammed her tennis federation after being blindsided by their decision to enter her into the Olympic doubles tournament at the London Games.

The 2011 French Open champion was named in the women's singles and doubles in an entry list released by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Tuesday.

Li's team told local media earlier this month that she hoped to focus only on the singles given her injuries, regardless of Chinese sports officials' wishes to have her play in both tournaments.

'If it were true, I don't know why they wanted me to play doubles,' Li, who was named to partner Zhang Shuai in the doubles, told Chinese media when asked about her selection.

[Qidong]

Published on Jun 28, 2012



SHANGHAI (REUTERS) - China's top tennis player Li Na slammed her tennis federation after being blindsided by their decision to enter her into the Olympic doubles tournament at the London Games.

The 2011 French Open champion was named in the women's singles and doubles in an entry list released by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Tuesday.

Li's team told local media earlier this month that she hoped to focus only on the singles given her injuries, regardless of Chinese sports officials' wishes to have her play in both tournaments.

'If it were true, I don't know why they wanted me to play doubles,' Li, who was named to partner Zhang Shuai in the doubles, told Chinese media when asked about her selection.

Poor Li Na. Remember similar thing happened to Yao Ming that forced him to retired early?