The Chinese tennis player Na Li (or Li Na if you prefer Chinese conventions for names) (photo ©Sascha Grabow) has announced her retirement from professional activity. Her knee problems have become too much and wouldn’t allow her to return to play at 100%. She had already undergone three surgeries on her right knee and missed this summer tournaments to undergo left knee surgery but she felt that her body was asking her to stop.
Na Li was born on February 26, 1982 in Wuhan, in Hubei province, China. Her father was a badminton player and when she was six she started practicing that sport. When she was almost eight years old, her coach convinced her to switch to tennis.
Na Li turned pro in 1999 but continued to study part time and in 2009 she graduated in journalism at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). In the early years of her career, she won several ITF tournaments but in 2002 she interrupted her activity for reasons not officially declared.
In 2004, Na Li returned to play in ITF tournaments and subsequently in WTA tournaments and in October she won her first WTA title in China, in the Guangzhou tournament. In 2005, she started playing exclusively WTA tournaments and in 2006 became the first Chinese player to reach the quarterfinals in a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon.
In 2007, Na Li was able to get into the top 20 of the WTA rankings despite failing to win any tournament but in summer she stopped due to a rib injury ending the season.
In 2008, Na Li got back and won the first tournament of the year in Gold Coast. In the following months, she alternated good results and bad moments due to physical problems because her knees were already giving her problems.
In 2010, Na Li reached her first semifinal in a Grand Slam tournament at the Australian Open. Thanks to this result, she got into the top 10 of the WTA ranking. During the year, she won the Birmingham tournament.
2011 started well again for Na Li with her victory in the Sydney tournament. The best arrived in spring, with her great victory at Roland Garros. Thanks to these results, at the end of the season she played for the first time the WTA Championships, even if she was stopped in round robin stage.
In 2012, Na Li wasn’t able to repeat the results of the previous year. After the Olympics, she announced that Carlos Rodriguez would become her coach. In summer, she won the Cincinnati tournament.
In 2013, Na Li won the tournament in Shenzhen and reached the final of the Australian Open. Due to an ankle injury suffered in the final, she missed a few tournaments and when she came back to play she couldn’t win any more tournaments.
Na Li started 2014 the best way by winning the Shenzhen tournament again and this time also winning the Australian Open. With those results, she become no. 2 in the WTA rankings. Unfortunately, physical problems started making her activities more and more difficult and after Wimbledon she stopped for knee surgery.
According to her plans, Na Li was supposed to return to play at the Wuhan tournament, her hometown. Instead, in recent days rumors came of the announcement of her retirement, confirmed a few hours ago. The player posted on Facebook a letter in which explains her physical problems giving the official announcement of her retirement.
Na Li has been a player of great athleticism and powerful and precise shots. In recent years, working with Carlos Rodriguez allowed her to refine her technique and also to improve mentally. Above all, she has become a symbol for China as no Asia player had even got close to her results.
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