Na Li Eyes First Slam Victory For China can Na Li win French Open
This year’s biggest tennis news is of course about the first time a Chinese player has ever reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open which caused Venus Williams to bow out of the tournament. It was evident that Na Li’s conquest to the semi final round was well accepted in her home country. Na Li and Jie Zheng’s semi-final bid has sparked the interest of the nation and there’s simply no turning back. China has been known to dominate the doubles tournaments for years, but this is the first time that a singles player from China has reached a semi-final game of a grand slam. By the time Na Li and Jie Zheng came home to China, they were already superstars in their own home.
Apart from the semi-final finish, Na Li also became the first Chinese woman to ever be part of the world top ten. And now, the 28 year old woman from China aims to reach a goal; no other Chinese woman has ever reached before. Today, Na Li plants to win a grand slam tournament. With the upcoming French Open just around the corner, Na Li has been practicing and training really hard and she is raring to compete and have a taste of grand slam glory.
Just a year ago, Na Li finished in the round of 16 in the French Open and just in the last week, she finished in the quarter finals of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open. Her recent clay-court conquests have solidified her bid for her first ever grand-slam title. In the way of her dream are tournament favorites Jelena Jankovic, Venus Williams and Justine Henin. Despite of these big names that she is up against, Na Li is ready and confident that she will do well in the French Open. After all, she reached the quarter finals of the last two pre-French Open tournaments that she has participated in.
In the recent Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, Na Li (who was 13th seed in the competition) beat Alona Bondarkendo in the third round of the competition to reach the quarter finals of the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open 2010. She won the third round along with Samantha Stosur, who eventually went to the finals with Justine Henin who is currently on a comeback tour after a hiatus since 2008.
Most recently, despite being disturbed by rainfall, Na Li convincingly won over Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania in the Warsaw Open as she continued her impressive finishes in the clay-court season in preparation for the French Open.
The French Open, is highly dominated by superstars like the Williams sisters and Justine Henin. However, Na Li is hoping for a grand slam tournament title by the end of the year and this year’s French Open tournament seems to be the best opportunity to clinch the title and bring honor and glory to her beloved country.
It will not come as a surprise to see that Na Li will reach the quarter finals of the French Open in Rolland Garros. It will definitely be not a surprise if Na Li steals a match or two from the tournament front runners. In fact, after her spectacular upset against Venus Williams at this year’s Australian Open, Na Li is expected to create the same drama and color to the French Open. Na Li has a solid all around game and a Slam experience to upset any high-profile players. Tennis is such an emotional sport; its fans appreciate comebacks and huge upsets. And majority expects this from Na Li, a player they have probably never heard of until she convincingly defeated Venus Williams in Australia.
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