Lin Na has done us, all Asian, proud, thank you Li Na!

On Saturday, No. 6 seed Li Na dethroned defending French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, 6-4, 7-6 (0), to win her first career Grand Slam title.

Overall, Li’s powerful strokes had been able to keep Schiavone on the defensive for most of the match, as the Chinese star had moved extremely well on the clay and countered the Italian’s intense spin with stinging flat ground strokes. After the match, Schiavone agreed that her opponent had played excellently.

With the tournament win, the 29-year-old will become the world No. 4, a career high for Li. She will share the honor of being the highest-ranked female Asian player in history with Kimiko Date Krumm of Japan, who also held the No. 4 position in 1995.

‘China’s number one sister’ as she is fondly called is hugely popular in her country. In late 2008, she quit China’s tennis program and started her own team.

With this new arrangement, she was able to choose her own coach and pay 8-12 percent of her winnings to the government compared with 65 percent in the past, according to a Chinese media.

At the age of six, Li Na was selected to play badminton at her local sports school. ‘I felt sad because every day, I had to wake up early to practice before going to school’ she said.

Her career has finally blossomed at the age of 29, for which she calls herself ‘the old woman of tennis’.

The new world number four also became the first Asian woman to play in a grand slam final when she lost to Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open in January.

Lin Na has done us, all Asian, proud, thank you Li Na!

- Asian Tribune -