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Li Na (born February 26, 1982) is a Chinese professional tennis player. As of January 2014, Li has won 8 WTA and 19 ITF singles titles. Li rose to prominence after she won the 2011 French Open singles title, making her the first and only Grand Slam singles champion from an Asian country. Prior to this Li had already become the first player representing an Asian country to appear in a Grand Slam singles final, a milestone she achieved at the 2011 Australian Open. She was also the runner-up at the 2013 Australian Open and 2013 WTA Tour Championships, three times a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon and a semi-finalist at the 2013 US Open. Her career-high singles ranking is World No. 3 (achieved on October 28, 2013) and is currently the World No. 4 and Chinese No. 1 (out of 4 in the top-100).
Li Na was born on February 26, 1982, in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Her father Li Shengpeng was a professional badminton player and later worked as a sales rep for a Wuhan based company. He died from a rare cardiovascular disease when Li Na was 14.
Li Na was born on February 26, 1982, in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Her father Li Shengpeng was a professional badminton player and later worked as a sales rep for a Wuhan based company. He died from a rare cardiovascular disease when Li Na was 14.
At age six, Li Na started playing badminton, following her father's footsteps. Just before she turned eight, Li made the transition from badminton to tennis when she and her parents were convinced by coach Xia Xiyao of the Wuhan youth tennis club that this would be the right career move for her. Li joined China's National Tennis Team in 1997. In the following year, Li, sponsored by Nike, went to John Newcombe Academy in Texas to study tennis. She studied there for 10 months and returned to China. Li turned professional in 1999 at age sixteen.
At the end of 2002, Li left the national tennis team to study part-time at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, where she completed her bachelor's degree in journalism in 2009. The Chinese media cited various reasons for this. Some reported that the relationship between her and her teammate, future husband Jiang Shan , was opposed by the national team's management, some reported that her coach Yu Liqiao was too strict and demanding, while other reports claimed that her request for a personal coach did not go through.
However, Li returned to the national team in 2004. Jiang Shan married Li on January 27, 2006 and became her personal coach. Li quit the national team as well as the state-run sports system in 2008 under an experimental reform policy for tennis players. This change was called "Fly Alone" by Chinese media. As a result, Li had the freedom to pick her own coaching staff but she would be responsible for the cost of travel, training and coaching. She could keep more of her winnings, with only 8 to 12 percent of her winnings go to the Chinese Tennis Association as opposed to 65 percent previously.
Li Na has a tattoo on her chest, and hid it for many years since tattoos are not widely accepted in China, especially on women.