Li Na (tennis)

Li Na (; born February 26, 1982) is a Chinese professional tennis player. Li has won 5 WTA and 19 ITF singles titles. Li won the 2011 French Open singles title, making her the first Asian country representative to win a Grand Slam in singles. She had been the first player from an Asian country to appear in a Grand Slam singles final with her performance at the 2011 Australian Open.The words "Asian" mentioned here mean "from an Asian country", rather than "born in Asia" or "of Asian descent".

Off the court

Li Na was born on February 26, 1982, in Wuhan, Hubei, China. Her father Li Shengpeng (李盛鹏) was a professional badminton player and later worked as a sales rep for a Wuhan based company. He died from a rare cardiovascular disease when Li Na was 14.

At age 6, Li Na started playing badminton, following her father's footsteps. Just before she turned eight, Li made the transition from badminton to tennis when she and...
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