Li Na: French Open title changed my life style completely – Tennis News
World number seven, Li Na, who created headlines last year by winning her maiden Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros French Open; surprised everyone and registered a record in the history of tennis by becoming the first Asian
to win a singles Grand Slam. This year, she is back with an aim; goal of defending that title successfully and living up to the expectations of her fans. However, the whole year wasn’t easy for the Chinese number one, who didn’t like the celebrity status and
all the attention. It’s a bit hectic for her; attending parties and having makeovers.
She is reported to have said, "It's tough for me because after I won my life changed. I couldn't do the same things as before. I didn't do well the rest of the year. The good thing was I had my dream: I won a grand slam. The bad
thing is I then lost many times. After Paris, I lost concentration on court.”
Li further added, “I was training so hard, just like before. But it was totally different because my mind was not on the court anymore. I had to do so many things, things I never experienced before. I wasted half year learning
about that side of life, something new every day."
Good news for all of her fans is that she has arrived in Paris with a good run of form having failed consistently throughout this season. She reached the final of the Italian Open in Rome but couldn’t win the third set tie-breaker
against the defending champion, Maria Sharapova.
It will be a world class achievement for her if she manages to hang on to her title or even reach closer of registering the milestone because the hard hitting big guns are in-form at the moment; likes of Sharapova and Victoria
Azarenka, has definitely ate up all the odds of winning the year’s second Grand Slam but Li was the underdog last year so she can always come up as a surprise package.
Chinese fans want her to register headlines in 2012 as well but one should ask the players what they go through before they make a name for themselves. The 30-year-old Chinese might have faced a lot of troubles in living up to
the celebrity status but at the moment, it’s her game that is being played in Paris and she should believe in her abilities to repeat the last year heroics. Anything is possible in sport so Li’s title defence is also on the cards.
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