Na Li: Not quite the Chinese hope

Says she feels no pressure in the Olympics because she doesn’t play doubles

FROM THE PROXIMUS DIAMOND GAMES IN ANTWERP - After sustaining a nasty rib injury that kept her off the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour for six months, Na Li is now trying to get back in form for what should be the highlight of her career later this summer: the Beijing Olympics. She doesn’t have to deal with high expectations from the Chinese Federation.

When it comes to singles, there has never been a better Chinese women’s player than Na Li. She became the first player from her country to crack the Top 20 and reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal (’06 Wimbledon). But the Chinese Federation has not set its eyes on Li for Olympic glory later this year. The focus is on the doubles team of Zi Yan and Jie Zheng, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2006.

Li moved into the quarterfinals on Wednesday when she defeated Dominika Cibulkova 6-4, 6-3. She continues her strong year so far with victories over Nicole Vaidisova, Patty Schnyder and Sybille Bammer on the way to winning Gold Coast.

Li didn’t make a massive impact in her first full year on Tour in 2005, but she became a respected player in ‘06, when she reached the Top 20 and beat Kuznetsova and Nicole Vaidisova en route to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. In China though, there was hardly a response.

“For me nothing changed after my success,” she said. “After Wimbledon I was flying back to Beijing and there was only my husband waiting for me at the airport. In China they care about the winner. We had another two girls who won the doubles (Yan and Zheng) and there were like 50 or 100 journalists waiting for them.”

But surely, with the Olympics coming up, the nation expects something from its best singles player? “No, nothing,” Li said. “I didn’t play doubles, so they don’t care about me (laughs). I can just play my game, that’s all.” I find it a little hard to believe that there are no expectations at all on Li’s shoulders, but she appears not to be feeling any, which is a good thing. Of course the Chinese have some bigger sports to worry about.

STARTED IN BADMINTON UNDER DAD'S GUIDANCE

Exactly how did a Chinese girl pick up a sport at a time it was practically unknown to its country? “I was like 6 years old and my father was a badminton player, so that’s why I start badminton,” Li said. “After 2 years, the tennis coach comes to me and asks me [if I want to try tennis]. I said to my parents that maybe I change to tennis. They talked to the coach and they were okay with it.”

Li didn’t pick up tennis with the intention of becoming a professional player one day. It wasn’t until she was 16 years old that she started believing that maybe she could make a career out of her hobby. She had a lot of success on the ITF circuit in Asia - with the occasional trip abroad - but before she got the chance to play in the big WTA events across the globe, Li felt she couldn’t go on. “After three years I was really tired. I was thinking: ‘I can’t go anymore. I hate tennis.’ So I take two years off and I came back for 2004.”

She made an outstanding comeback after not playing a single event between April 2002 and May 2004, winning 3 consecutive ITF tournaments in an unbeaten run that lasted 28 matches. In September of ‘04, Li qualified for the Tier II event in Beijing, where she reached the second round. There, she found herself facing the fresh US Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova.

“I talked to my husband and I said: ‘wow, I play her. Before I saw her on TV and now I play against her in the court.’ My husband said: ‘don’t worry, you just play, you’re in Beijing, and you have nothing to lose’. I had two match points. The first match point I was feeling pressure, and the second she hit a winner.” Kuznetsova won 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(3).

The match was a turning point in the career of Li. She knew she could be successful as a professional player, and proved it the next week by winning her first Tour event in Guangzhou. This led to another kind of breakthrough in itself.

“Before, I couldn’t choose my own tournaments,” she said. “The Chinese Federation chooses which tournaments I have to play.” But by winning the Tier III tournament in her home country, and moving into the Top 90, she was given permission to play her own schedule as of 2005.

“The first year was so exciting because it was just like, first time here, first time there,” she said. “For me always first time.” But being a relatively old newcomer on the Tour who had never learned to speak English wasn’t that much fun. “The biggest problem was loneliness. I couldn’t speak English, so when people talked to me I couldn’t understand.” And about the age barrier, Li said: “I was always joking, I’m an old woman still playing tennis.”

With the success of Li and the doubles players, tennis is rapidly growing in China. “I see a lot of tennis schools now,” Li said. “They have a lot of children choosing for tennis. Also in the media, every tournament is live on TV or on the internet.”

She said that she doesn’t believe the Chinese coaches are focusing more on training female players, because it would allegedly be easier to produce a women’s tennis star compared to a male. “I think the focus is the same.”

Despite the fact that she is now free in choosing the tournaments she wishes to play, Li still has to give up a chunk of her prize money to the Chinese Federation, just like any other Chinese player. She isn’t allowed to disclose any numbers or a percentage of her earnings. “It’s a secret, I can’t tell you (laughs),” she said. “It’s like asking a woman for her age.” In return, the players’ expenses are completely covered. “They pay everything,” confirms Li. “Flight tickets, hotel and coaching.” In about six months, whole China will be watching to see if the investments are paying off.