Li Na 'playing herself' in 2012
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E-mail Xinhua, December 19, 2012
In a year of surprises, from Roger Federer's 17th Grand Slam title and Andy Murray's first major victory to Serena Williams' Golden Slam, the biggest story with Chinese tennis was still Li Na playing herself in 2012.
The superstar, who became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam title at the French Open last year, has been flying the Chinese flag in world tennis and will possibly do it in years to come.
Despite great efforts, Li's compatriot players hardly took inspirations from the pioneer or made breakthrough in the past season.
In the gradually tennis-crazy country, Li is still in a class of her own or "playing myself" as mentioned in her bestselling autobiography.
Her Chinese language autobiography entitled Du Zi Shang Chang, which literally means "Playing Myself", was published this summer. It shows her path to superstardom wasn't at all easy.
"I hope my story can inspire people of all ages," the Chinese megastar said during her book signing in Beijing.
In the book, Li opens up about several struggles and successes, including growing up inside and out of the controversial state tennis system in China; the passing of her father and the often troubled relationship with her mother; meeting her future husband and coach Jiang Shan; retiring from professional tennis and going to college; coming back to professional tennis; the long road up the ladder of women's tennis; and playing with the pressure of a nation.
After the French Open triumph, Li had struggled to adjust to her new status as a major champion. For almost a year, she had not won a tournament and even found it hard to reach a final.
"I must handle the pressure coming from the expectations of more than a billion people back home in China, and it was very hard," Li said in her autobiography.
Li's title drought this season was finally ended after she hired new coach Carlos Rodriguez. In her first tournament after joining forces with him (despite communicating with him only electronically), she reached the final in Montreal. The next week she won an event in Cincinnati, joined midweek by the Argentine.
Li's surge towards the end of the 2012 season reached climax when she was back into top eight elite and qualified for the season-ending WTA Championships.
The 30-year-old would like to prolong her association with Rodriguez, who famously guided Justine Henin to seven Grand Slam titles.
"After Carlos came to my team, the change was unbelievable. I was happy to have him because I think he is a positive person and gives a lot of positive things for all the team," said Li.
"He makes me train a little bit for strength in the mind, not only for tennis. I really wish to work with him next year."
Li's Slam-winning feat has been expected to spur the development of tennis in China, but given the performances of her compatriot players in the past season, there's a long way to go.
Zheng Jie, a former Grand Slam doubles winner and the current Chinese number two, started the season with her fourth title in career in an Auckland event, but after that Zheng failed to make more splash and finally ranked 26th in the world.
The much younger Peng Shuai also had an inconsistent season and had to settle with a 40th place finish on the world rankings.
In men's part, the Chinese players made some progress in 2012, raising hopes that China's struggling men could finally emerge from the shadows of their women's tennis stars.
Zhang Ze and Wu Di both broke into the Top 200 for the first time, ranked 158th and 183rd respectively.
Zhang made history in the China Open in October when he became the first Chinese man ever to beat a top 20 player, with a three-sets win over Richard Gasquet which put him into the China Open quarterfinals.
His defeat of the Frenchman, then ranked 14th, also meant China's number one got further in an ATP tournament than any other Chinese man in 17 years, after Pan Bing made the Seoul semifinals in 1995.
Wu also made history by winning a wild card into the 2013 Australian Open and becoming the first Chinese male player in the Open Era to contest a Grand Slam main draw.
"Me and Zhang are good friends. We have played tennis together since our junior years, we've been like brothers," said Wu, who defeated Zhang en route to winning the wild card.
Both players have named Li as their guiding light.
"What I admire about her most is her perseverance. She is 30 years old now but still in the Top 10, competing with girls much younger than herself. She focuses so hard on tennis, from every minute of a training session, to what to eat and drink and when to sleep. She is just so professional on and off court," Wu said.
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