Li Na is content with her new coach’s selection – Tennis News
World number eight, Li Na, enters the year-end finale as the least likely player to clinch the title but there is no doubt that she can actually surprise her counterparts just like she did in the last year during the Roland Garros French Open. The 30-year-old Chinese superstar hasn’t been able to pick up her form to the same standard as she did in Paris where she clinched her famous maiden Grand Slam trophy in 2011. However, it looks like the change of the coach has helped the former world number four and she has once again picked up momentum at the right time.
Commenting about her new coach Carlos Rodriguez, Li said, “Although we've only been working together for about two months, we feel really good and we are looking forward to continuing our partnership into next year."
She further added, “He is the kind of person who looks relaxed every moment - unlike us, who usually show our nervousness. I used to feel very nervous before matches, and I was unwilling to share my feelings with the team."
Li didn’t enjoy a good time at the start of the new partnership but has settled down with her recently replaced coach who seems to have work on her nervousness at the courts. She confessed, “It was getting better and better after a week or two, and now I can share my thoughts with him when I feel uncomfortable in training. I am happy to have Carlos on my team because I think he is a positive person.”
The WTA Championships in Istanbul is around the corner and everyone has set their eyes on the top eight athletes in the women category who will battle it out for the most prestigious title of the season. Li is in the red group that is the difficult of the two. She has Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber to face in the upcoming days. It will be interesting to see how the lectures from the coach about holding the nerves under the cosh will assist the Chinese star in successfully escaping those critical situations.
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