Li Na pinned China on the Grand Slam map when a confident display of power and accuracy at the French Open on Saturday made her the first player from an Asian nation to win a Grand-Slam title.
Li, the sixth seed, beat last year’s champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) in the final.
Even her sponsor had not been not ultra-confident that Li, who confessed earlier in the tournament that she disliked clay, could win in Paris.
Photo: AFP
“[My sponsor] made a T-shirt with Chinese characters meaning ‘Be Yourself.’ They asked me, ‘Are you okay to wear it?’ I said, ‘Yes of course,’” Li told a news conference. “But they only made 30 of them. I think they should make more now because a lot of fans are asking where they can find them.”
True to herself, Li dominated a one-sided final as Schiavone was thrown off balance.
“I did not have the feeling I could lose the match,” Li said.
Photo: Reuters
Her flat baseline strokes and accurate serve allowed her to dictate the points, with Schiavone scurrying around the red dirt arena on a sun-kissed Court Philippe Chatrier.
Fifteen million television viewers, with a peak at 25 million, watched Li qualify for the final as she deflated hard hitter Maria Sharapova in the semi-finals.
Many millions stayed up late into the night in China to watch their “Golden Flower” bloom into glory on Saturday, and Li’s win was hailed as a miracle.
Photo: AFP
“It’s a miracle, a breakthrough, a first in more than 100 years of tennis,” a breathless presenter on Chinese state television’s main sports channel exclaimed as Li hit the winning shot.
“I believe tennis in China will grow bigger and bigger,” Li said.
Schiavone struggled to hit her stride, but grew in confidence in the second set as Li wobbled, having moved a break ahead.
However, the Italian’s fingers were ripped from the trophy in emphatic style as Li raced through the tiebreak without dropping a point.
“I was up 4-2 and she tried to come back and I thought, ‘Okay you’ve got to stand up,’ and I made it,” Li, who fell backwards to the clay and put her hands to her face in celebration, said courtside. “I was nervous, but I did not want to show it, I was cheating a little bit.”
Schiavone, who was bidding to become the sixth woman to retain the Roland Garros title since tennis turned professional in 1968, put on a brave face.
“It’s really tough, but I have to say congratulations to Li Na because she improved this year and she played really well today,” the 30-year-old Milanese said.
Right from the start Schiavone knew she was in for a scrap as Li, showing great composure, threatened to break in the opening game on a hot day.
Li leveled at 1-1 with more ease, but both players started within themselves as the importance of the occasion sank in.
A netted volley and smart play from Li put Schiavone under pressure on her own serve in the fifth game and a wide forehand sparked the first break as the Australian Open runner-up went 3-2 ahead.
Schiavone, who became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title here last year, doggedly stayed in the set, but Li took the opener in 39 minutes, giving up just five points on serve.
Li showed remarkable tenacity by breaking immediately at the start of the second set with more lusty blows and then saving a break point against her in the following game.
Schiavone tried desperately to get a foothold, fending off numerous break points.
The wasted opportunities looked like proving costly for Li as she suddenly looked rattled and blazed a forehand wide to allow a pumped-up Schiavone to haul herself back to 4-4, much to the delight of her vocal fans.
With Li serving at 5-6 and the crowd eagerly anticipating a deciding set, Schiavone lost her cool when she ranted over a line call, pointing angrily at a mark in the clay.
Had that decision gone her way she would have earned a set point. Instead Li remained calm, held serve to set up a tiebreaker and with clearly no appetite for tea-time drama, reeled off seven consecutive points.
Meanwhile, the men’s doubles title went to Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Canadian Daniel Nestor who beat Argentine Eduardo Schwank and Colombian Juan Sebastian Cabal 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-4.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but