Li Na who came close of becoming the first Asian to win a grand slam early in the year at the Australian Open, finally came true at the French Open final last night. She has had an amazing 2 weeks and winning the French Open title really made us Asians feel proud especially the Chinese. Of course, we can always remember Michael Chang winning the title back in 1989 as a 17-year old. However, he is an American Chinese so the impact was not as great as what Li Na did last night.
What is so amazing is that she has lost in a lot of first round match after the dream final in Australia. She had four successive first round defeats that prompted her to bring in Thomas Hogstedt and Michael Mortensen as coaches to replace her husband who became the hitting partner instead.
Last night's final also saw one of the oldest cumulative age in a grand slam final. Li Na is 29 and Schiavone is 30. These shows older players are not to be written off in tennis seemingly dominated by the young players.
So well done Li Na!
Li Na of China after winning the French Open final against
Francesca Schiavone of Italy. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters
Li Na raises the French Open trophy after winning the French Open title
No comments:
Post a Comment