French Open - Li makes history with French Open win
Sixth seed Li Na became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title when she beat Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-6(0) in the French Open final at Roland Garros.
The Chinese was in control for the vast majority of the match, pushing defending champion Schiavone deep behind the baseline and dictating the rallies, and only stuttering briefly during the second set thanks to a brilliant patch of play from the Italian.
Li, who also reached the Australian Open final earlier this year before losing to Kim Clijsters, will reach a career-high of five when the new world rankings are released on Monday.
On a humid day in Paris, Li played her second Grand Slam final to perfection for the first set and a half, executing almost every shot she went for and making light of Schiavone's wicked spin as she hit through the ball to pepper the baseline.
Seemingly cruising at a set and 4-2 up, Li was forced to survive a spirited fightback from the irrepressible Schiavone but did so with aplomb, racing through the tie-break to wrap up the title after one hour and 48 minutes when the Italian hit long.
Schiavone struggled with her serve from the outset, being forced to defend a break point in the opening game before being allowed to go on and hold.
Despite both players hitting well within themselves in the early stages, Li had undoubtedly made the better start to the match and was rewarded for her confident play with a break in the fifth game when Schiavone hit a forehand wide down the line.
The duo then traded love service holds but the damage was already done and Li went on to seal it at the first attempt on 39 minutes when Schiavone sent a forehand sailing long.
The second set picked up in much the same vein with Li breaking her opponent's serve in the first game to further extend her lead.
Li, who had allowed her opponent just five points against serve in the first set, also enjoyed another break point to go 5-2 up but Schiavone saved it with a service winner.
There wes no doubt that Schiavone was slowly turning the momentum to her advantage, the sixth seed showing a first sign of weakness when she was forced to saved a break point in the second game with an ace.
Schiavone also pushed Li to deuce in the sixth game before earning herself more break back points in the eighth, this time grabbing her opportunity to push Li wide and secure the break back when the Chinese player hit wide.
But Li showed fantastic resilience to wrestle momentum back from the 30-year-old Milanese, successfully serving to stay in the set twice, before producing the perfect tie-break.
Li grabbed the first mini-break with a forehand winner before doubling her lead with a confident backhand drive volley winner across court.
And although the 29-year-old enjoyed six match points at the change of ends in the breaker, she only needed the one, falling to the floor on the baseline when Schiavone drilled an aggressive forehand long.
Comment 80 - 99 of 99
Lovely lady with a lovely bum.
Many congrats Li u r the most refreshing thing in tennis for years. Long may u reign supreme. The #1 spot will b urs. X
Smoke - I hate to admit it but Con do have a point about the french open. I guess it is save to say that with the state WTA, the "mystique and charm" of the French Open will be seen also seen at the rest of the grand slam tournaments.
Con Avraam
9 different Champions in 12 years!!!! That is the nature of clay court, but inconsistency and low level of tennis from the women is on its way in yielding the same result on the other Grand Slam events if Clijsters, Venus and Serena can't help it. Wozniacki isn't mentally mature enough to save women's tennis, neither is her talent.
Any solutions?? Nope! We just settle for more upcoming different faces battling in Grand Slam finals and the general unpredictability of the Grand Slam tournaments.
Bravo mademoiselle Li Na =)
Upon turning professional, every female player should be subject to gender tests - removing any embarrassing questions later or being seen to single anyone out.
I would offer my services of course, expertise based on years of checking out girls!
With a billion of 'em,..I should hope they COULD come up with a winner!
Yes, Brilliant ! Brilliant ! Li Na, this French Open win is to silence all those critics once and for all. Your earlier Australian final was certainly not a 'fluke'. .
Have trust and faith in yourself and you have certainly 'brought' in millions to take up this game in your home country, China.
Great achievement and good for Tennis in China too. \.
than god the japanese woman won!schiavone is veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy ugly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i remember the other chinese tennis player now -- jie zheng. i thought it was really patriotic of her to donate a large part of her prize money as finalist in the wimbledon a few years ago, to help the eathquake victims of her country.
i remember another chinese tennis player who did very well in the wimbledon two years ago, but i'm not sure of her name. what i admire very much about her is the fact that she donated a large part of her prize money to the victims of the earthquake in yunnan province. (please correct if my recollection of names and dates is wrong). this small lady, i know, still competes in tennis but isn't quite as successful now as li na. i wonder if li na will be as magnanimous with her prize money as this other tennis player.
Play It again, Francesca!
That Italian woman walks as though she's half way through a sex change that's going wrong.
9 different Champions in 12 years.
That is the mystique and charm of the French Open.
That is also why it is the most difficult event to win in the WTA callendar.
Li, Na outplayed all the favorites and best players curently on the WTA. (Kvitova, Azarenka, Sharapova, Schiavone).
Congrats to Li, Na, very deserving Winner.
Yep, Francesca came up against The Wall of China, and couldn't get by it.
Li played an excellent clay court lesson in the first set hitting incredible top spin shots to both sides from the back of the court. amazing shots to watch like Nadal,Gustavo Kuerten...!
congrats to Li
Margaret
The grunting brigate consists mainly of Grand Slam champions except Azarenka. I'm sure they're satisfied the way they're looking now. Na Li has just become what they already are.
Na Li certainly did great and deserves to win, she has really done well for herself this year, and china will definitely be proud of her. she has the french open title to savor for years to come. Congrats Li.
Brilliant !! brilliant !!!. As tennis should be played without all the insane grunting and screaming. Schiavone, Sharapova and the rest of the noisy brigade should take a real good look at themselves now. At long last a fantastic player that can be watched without having to turn the sound down on the TV.
Margaret
For a defending champion to have reached the finals is already a great achievement, so Schiavone has nothing to be ashamed about. I thought she was brilliant in the second set and for a while, i thought she was going to dictate a third set. i still think, though, that she should change her tennis skirt. Why not just wear shorts? the skirt she used throughout the tournament didn't make her more feminine, sorry to say that.
li na played her best and deserves the title. but for anyone to say that she has a sexy body and long, shapely legs...come on. that's not true. she is charming but definitely not sexy. there is something i can sense about li na, though. among the chinese women tennis players, she is about the only one with an air of cockiness (i hope i'm mistaken.). i hope this victory doesn't get into her head so soon. to my chinese friends, li na did you proud. you have another great athlete to add to the likes of yao ming and your pingpong players.
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