Is it game, set and match for Li Na?
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, September 19, 2014
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Li Na.[file photo] |
Li Na, a two-time Grand Slam winner, is poised to retire, a move which would bring down the curtain on Asia's most successful tennis career.
The CNTV sports channel cited Li's agency, IMG, as saying she would hold a briefing on Sunday to announce the news but it also indicated she might make an official announcement today via social media.
A separate report by CCTV's sports channel quoted unnamed insiders as saying Li, 32, would be announcing her retirement due to injury today.
On its microblog, CCTV-5 said: "She is reportedly retiring because she is unable to continue competing due to her physical condition."
The world No. 6 won the Australian Open in January but her season has been troubled by injury and she has been sidelined since July with a knee problem.
Li was ranked a career-high world No. 2 after January's Grand Slam win, but slid down to No. 6 after missing a string of tournaments, including the US Open. Li also split from her influential coach Carlos Rodriguez in July.
She had planned to return at the inaugural WTA Wuhan Open, in her home city, which begins on Sunday but The Beijing News reported that Wuhan officials had received confirmation from Li that she was dropping out of the tournament.
However, event organizers said no letter had been received and, to their knowledge, Li was still playing.
Li originally played badminton, encouraged by her father who played professionally. However, her childhood coach convinced her to switch to tennis.
She took a break in her career early on to study journalism at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan only to return to tennis.
Li became a sporting pioneer in China when she decided to break from the state sports system in 2008 with a group of other upcoming players.
The move meant she was able to choose her own coaches and keep most of her winnings rather than give them to the government.
The aggressive baseliner became one of the region's biggest stars when she won the 2011 French Open, becoming the first Asian national to win a Grand Slam singles title.
She has become a poster girl for the Women's Tennis Association, which has made a concerted push into Asia by organizing several new tournaments including Wuhan.
Li previously said she considered retiring last year after a dip in form but, following encouragement from Rodriguez, she returned stronger to claim her second Grand Slam.
Her agent was forced to deny fresh retirement rumors over the summer after a US broadcaster claimed she would call it a day after the China Open in Beijing, which follows the Wuhan tournament.
In an interview last month, tennis great Martina Navratilova cited Li's ability to withstand injury as the critical question facing her as she approached her 33rd birthday in February.
"The body is the biggest issue for her, clearly, now," Navratilova said, describing Li's future as "up in the air."
An announcement in Wuhan would mirror the retirement of China's other global sports star, basketball player Yao Ming. The former NBA player returned to Shanghai, his home city, in 2011 to announce his retirement.
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