Li Na title match most watched game this year

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History-making tennis legend Li Na notched the first-ever grand slam women's singles title for China and Asia, beating defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6(7/0) in the French Open final on Saturday. [Xinhua]

History-making tennis legend Li Na notched the first-ever grand slam women's singles title for China and Asia, beating defending champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) in the French Open final on June 4, 2011. [Xinhua]

The WTA confirmed on Thursday that Li Na's title match against Italy's Francesca Schiavone at the French Open on Saturday was the most watched sporting event to date this year in China.

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A record-breaking 116 million viewers in China witnessed the match, which was broadcast live on two China Central Television (CCTV) stations from 9 pm on Saturday night (Beijing time). That was almost twice as much as the 60 million who tuned in when Li lost to Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open final in January. The figure also easily beat the 25 million for the men's singles gold medal match at the table tennis World Championships in the Netherlands last month.

"The viewership numbers for Li Na's historic Roland Garros win are a fantastic sign of the continued growth potential of women's tennis in China," WTA chief Stacey Allaster said in a news release.

Apart from the final, every Li game drew a huge TV audience, with her semifinal match against Maria Sharapova boasting 34.5 million viewers.

The 2011 Roland Garros final was also the most-watched tennis match in China's history. About 167 million Chinese tuned in to watch the entire tennis competition during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

According to CCTV, a preliminary-round women's volleyball match between China and Poland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the previous most-watched single event - drawing about 94 million viewers.

Despite the new benchmark, it is still not known whether CCTV, the dominant broadcaster of international sports events in China for decades, will make tennis one of its priorities. Last month, the station was criticized by several top athletes and the public for placing too much emphasis on table tennis before and during the World Championships.

CCTV has the broadcasting rights for all the tennis Grand Slam events - except Wimbledon.

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