Li Na with her historic trophy
| 1 | 1 | Wozniacki, Caroline | 11/07/90 | DEN | 9915 | 22 |
| 2 | 2 | Clijsters, Kim | 08/06/83 | BEL | 8215 | 14 |
| 3 | 3 | Zvonareva, Vera | 07/09/84 | RUS | 7935 | 20 |
| 4 | 7 | Li, Na | 26/02/82 | CHN | 6475 | 20 |
| 5 | 4 | Azarenka, Victoria | 31/07/89 | BLR | 5920 | 21 |
| 6 | 8 | Sharapova, Maria | 19/04/87 | RUS | 5221 | 15 |
| 7 | 5 | Schiavone, Francesca | 23/06/80 | ITA | 4646 | 22 |
| 8 | 9 | Kvitova, Petra | 08/03/90 | CZE | 4018 | 23 |
| 9 | 11 | Bartoli, Marion | 02/10/84 | FRA | 3740 | 27 |
| 10 | 6 | Stosur, Samantha | 30/03/84 | AUS | 3405 | 21 |
{ 0 comments }
Li Na wins China's first Grand Slam
She may not be the best player in the world but China’s Li Na has instantly become the most popular tennis player on the planet.
By winning the 2011 French Open, the world #7 has given the most populous country in the world it’s first Grand Slam tennis win.
Na’s opponent today in Paris, Francesca Schiavone, was ranked 5th and last year made Italy proud with her own French Open win.
While that was a nice, little story, the Na story is a veritable blockbuster. Everybody talks about China’s growing power these days but the talk is usually economic. Today China can talk about how it has produced a champion athlete.
With the Williams sisters out of commission due to health problems and the likes of Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin out of the picture as well, one wonders how big a star Na will become if she wins a few more tournaments, manages to reach the top of the WTA Rankings and actually becomes the world’s best player.
—
Editor’s Note: Just one day after her big win, Li had reached over 2,000, 000 followers on China’s version of Facebook, Sina.com.
“I think after today I should have more coming to the page,” said Li, who noted that 500,000 people recently signed on to be her friend.
{ 0 comments }
