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Li Na set to open door for Asian tennis success

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Chinese Li Na's success at Roland Garros was a breakthrough for Asian tennis, which led to positive reactions and Asian expectations on forthcoming Wimbledon all over the tennis world.

Li Na of China holds the trophy during the awarding ceremony for women's final in the French Open tennis championship at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, June 4, 2011. Li claimed the title by defeating Francesca Schiavone of Italy with 2-0. [Gao Jing/Xinhua]

Being the first Asian woman to win a Grand Slam tournament she overcame a major barrier for China and even for Asia. Experts say she is even capable of winning more Grand Slams, starting at Wimbledon. The future of Chinese tennis looks bright.

To some players, Li Na's win at Roland Garros was a surprise. At the same time, she fully deserved it, told some of her colleagues to Xinhua. World No. 2 Kim Clijsters, who had to withdraw from Wimbledon due to an ankle injury, was impressed by Li Na.

"She is a very good player. I am very happy for her. She is a strong girl, a strong athlete," said the Belgian.

Her Belgian compatriot Yanina Wickmayer, the world No. 19, shared that opinion. "She is a great player and the last couple of months she has been playing very, very well," she told. "She's been steady all year long actually. She played the final of the Australian Open and was stable in every tournament. I really think she deserved it. She is a hard worker, a passionate player."

Veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm was watching the French Open final between Italian Francesca Schiavone and Li Na on television. " Before the final I was thinking that it would be difficult, because Francesca Schiavone is a specialist on clay court," said Date.

"She did not win the Australian Open final, but in Paris she did not think about bad things and stayed positive," added the 40- year-old Japanese. "She played amazing tennis, aggressive and focused on getting points. She won all by her own, she was very, very strong mentally. It was good. She was not lucky, but deserved it. She played the best and this was the result."

Australian Jelena Dokic also welcomed the success of Li Na. "It 's fantastic," Dokic told. "She is a very dangerous player. So solid from the back, no real weaknesses, physically in great shape. She played great at the French Open, beat (Maria) Sharapova, beat (Victoria) Azaranka, played great in the final. I think she completely deserved it. It was a big shock to everyone, but it's great. And also she is a very nice girl."

Li Na's success will be an inspiration to other tennis players from China. Sun Sheng-nan, No. 297 on the singles ranking, can confirm that. "We are all proud of her," said the 24-year-old Chinese. "In all her achievements we can see her spirit of perseverance and always-positive-attitude. This is worth learning from for everybody."

"Li Na created this wonder and after that I believe there must be more good things to follow," Sun Sheng-nan added. "This is also my wish. I wish her to be able to create even better results."

For Date-Krumm the victory of Li Na reaches far beyond winning a Grand Slam title. "For Asia it is a very big thing. In tennis always the Europeans or Americans were dominating and for Asians it was difficult, especially physically."

"It's a big, big change, important for the future," Date continued. "For Japan also, if Li Na can do it, it will also be possible for a Japanese to win a Grand Slam. It opened the door to the top, it's a breakthrough for Asian women."

"She even won on clay court, for Asians clay is most difficult, " she added. "Europeans are growing up with clay court. We do not have so much clay, even the Chinese don't like clay court. We don' t know know how to play it, are not used to it. It was of great importance also to win a clay court Grand Slam."

If Li Na could win on clay court she could even win on the grass of Wimbledon? "Yes, Li Na could win Wimbledon as well," Date confirmed. "She won Roland Garros, while clay court was not her favorite surface. She can adjust to every surface in my opinion. She had a chance to win also. I hope she will make to the final again. That would be so exciting."

Non-Asian players like Dokic and Wickmayer agree on Li Na's chances in London. "Not a lot of players from the top 10 know how to play on grass and have the game for grass," said Dokic. "So maybe Li Na can win. We will see." Wickmayer expects an open battle.

"Tennis today is very open. Still there are some other great players around, but it will be a little bit of a combination of being lucky and playing well in the right weeks."

If it does not happen at Wimbledon more Chinese success could be on its way during other Grand Slams in the forthcoming years. At the moment Li Na is No. 1 of the four Chinese women in the top 100 of the WTA ranking, with also Peng Shuai in No. 20, Zheng Jie in No. 78 and Zhang Shuai in No. 85.

Date started her professional career in the late eighties, had a break between 1997 and 2007 and came back from retirement in 2008. The Japanese veteran endorses the big difference between Chinese tennis in the beginning of her career and Chinese tennis now.

"The Beijing Olympics in 2008 were a turning point for China," said Date. "More money, more coaches, more travelling, more practice. And Li Na wasn't even getting the support from the association again." In late 2008 Li Na quit China's tennis program and started her own team, which meant she was allowed her to appoint her own coach, make her own season schedule and be financially independent.

"When I was playing in the 90s there weren't so many Chinese players," said Date. "Twenty years later China has Li Na, now No. 4 in the world. Peng Shuai is in the top 20, Zheng Jie was in the semifinals of the Australian Open."

Date did not play many Chinese players in the 90s, but she did remember one meeting with a very young Li Na. "When I stopped playing tennis I visited China to teach tennis to kids. My coach told me Li Na was there at the time. She was 14, 15 or 16 maybe, while I was 28, 29, something like that. One time I played with some Chinese players in Beijing. Li Na was there, but I don't know exactly if I played her, but for sure she was there."

Considering the rising popularity of tennis in China, the chance of getting new Li Nas in the future is getting bigger. " Tennis is getting more popular in China every day," Sun Sheng-nan said.

"So I believe there is great potential for China to have good players in the future. I think China will get stronger in Tennis."

"After getting the sport introduced to a population of more than a billion people they can definitely be more successful," said Dokic. "Li Na for sure will do so much for Chinese tennis. They will have more kids playing and as a result more kids, more juniors will be coming up. They will definitely have more success. "