Li Na Becomes First Asian-Born Hall Of Famer, Addresses The Future of Chinese Tennis - UBITENNIS
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Li Na Becomes First Asian-Born Hall Of Famer, Addresses The Future of Chinese Tennis

It was a day to remember for the Chinese tennis legend on Saturday.

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4 years ago

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Li Na at the International Tennis Hall of Fame induction ceremony (photo via https://twitter.com/TennisHalloFame)

Almost five years after retiring from the sport, Li Na has achieved another milestone for Asian Tennis after being inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

 

The 37-year-old is the first ever Asian-born player to achieve the accolade, which recognises players who have made a significant contribution to the sport. The former world No.2 broke a series of records during her career. Becoming the first Chinese player to break into the world’s top five and win a grand slam title. In 2011 she defeated Francesca Schiavone to win the French Open. Three years later she added to her major tally by claiming the Australian Open trophy in 2014. Li ended her career with a total of eight WTA titles.

“We all know that to make it into the Hall of Fame, you have to be an accomplished tennis player. Most impressive about Li Na, is that [she’s] been a true pioneer: not just for tennis, not just for women, but for all of China,” Li’s former agent Max Eisenbud said during the official presentation in Newport on Saturday.

Li is regarded as an icon of tennis back in her home country and has been credited for helping its popularity. More than 116 million people in China watched her French Open final on TV. In recent years more high-profile tournaments have taken place in Asia. The latest will be the WTA Finals, which will be held in Shenzhen this year with a record prize money pool up for grabs.

“Right now you can see after US Open there’s a lot of, lot of tournaments in China. Also WTA Final, will be for 10 years in Shenzhen. I think it’s very good for the athletes and also for the fans.” She said.
“For Chinese tennis future, I will guess maybe five to 10 years, I wish they had another Grand Slam champion.”

At present there are four female Chinese players in the top 100. The highest is Qiang Wang at 14th. However, on the men’s tour there is non in the top 200. Li is still the only person from her country to have played in a grand slam singles final.

“Tennis in China has grown up a lot. Especially right now you can see a lot of athletes play on the tour.” She explained.
“Three in top 50 in the women’s tour. I think is much, much better. I believe they have even better in the future.”

Pierce and Kafelnikov also honoured

Li is one of three former players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. Another is Mary Pierce. The Frenchwoman was ranked as high as third in the world and won 18 singles titles on the WTA Tour. Including the 1995 Australian Open and 2000 French Open. It was during the 2000 French Open where she also won the doubles titles alongside Martina Hingis. A double that is rarely achieved in grand slam tennis nowadays. Coincidentally, it was Na who she played against in her final grand slam match at the 2006 US Open, which she lost 4-6, 6-0, 6-0.

“In the first set, things were going okay. I lost the second set 6-Love. I thought, What is happening? I didn’t know Li Na before. I was like, Who is this player from China?” Pierce recounted.
“Then she played amazing, like super solid, really well. I lost the third set 6-Love. I came off the court. I was like, Oh, my gosh, I can’t believe I just lost to this player. She wasn’t known at that time. I thought that was a bad loss for me.’
“Now look where we are today, both being inducted in the Hall of Fame, which is incredible. Of course, it wasn’t a bad loss, and she’s an amazing champion.”

Pierce was also a top-five doubles player and won 10 titles on the women’s tour. In the mixed doubles, she also excelled by winning the 2005 Wimbledon title alongside India’s Mahesh Bhupathi.

Finally Russia’s Kafelnikov is the only one of the trio to be a former world No.1 player. His grand slam triumphs occurred at the 1996 French Open and 1999 Australian Open. In total, he won 26 ATP titles over an eight-year period. He is one of only two Russian men to have topped the rankings. The other is Marat Safin, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame back in 2016.

Kafelnikov was also the first man to ever defeat Roger Federer on a hard court, grass-court and on the carpet. Something he was unaware of until this weekend.

“Roger was very young when we played against each other. I was very mature. I was winning majors already. Roger was 19 years old, kid, if I can say that.” He reflected.
“I remember Roger very well, how we played it. He wasn’t as good at the time like he is right now. But to have that record against Roger is a big thing. I honestly did not know that I beat him three different surfaces.”

During his career Kafelnikov defeated 46 top 10 players and earned $23,883,797 in prize money.

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Danil Medvedev is on a collision course for a potential quarter final against Jannik Sinner in Shanghai

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02/10/2023

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This year’s US Open finalist Danil Medvedev returns to the Shanghai Masters 1000, where he won in 2019, when the Chinese tournament was last held in 2019. Medvedev is aiming to win his sixth ATP Tour title after his triumphs in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai, Miami and Rome. 

 

Medvedev will take on either Cristian Garin or a qualifier in the second round. Medvedev is seeded to meet a potential fourth round match against 14th seed Felix Auger Aliassime. 

Medvedev is on a collision course for a blockbuster quarter final match against Jannik Sinner. Medvedev leads 6-0 in his head-to-head series against Sinner. 

This year’s US Open semifinalist Ben Shelton could face a possible third round match against 2019 Shanghai Open finalist Alexander Zverev in Sinner’s section of the draw. 

This year’s Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz will make his debut in the Shanghai Masters 1000 tournament against either Nuno Borges or Gregoire Barrere. Alcaraz is seeded for a fourth round match against this year’s Zhuhai winner Karen Khachanov and could face either Taylor Fritz or Frances Tiafoe. 

Alcaraz will chase his seventh ATP Tour title this year after winning in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona, Madrid, Queen’s and Wimbledon. He will face Sinner in the semifinal at the China Open in Beijing. The Spaniard would arrive 315 points behind Novak Djokovic if he wins the title in the Chinese capital. 

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev have been drawn in the same half as Alcaraz. Tsitsipas will start his campaign against either Laslo Djere or a qualifier and is seeded to play against Cameron Norrie in the Round of 16. 

Rublev, who won his first Masters 1000 title in Monte-Carlo this year, will play against either Quentin Halys or Aslan Karatsev in the second round and is seeded to meet this year’s Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul. 

This year’s Monte-Carlo and Rome Masters 1000 finalist Holger Rune will play in the second round against either Brandon Nakashima or Bernabe Zapata Miralles. 

Casper Ruud is seeded to meet this year’s Toronto Masters 1000 finalist Alex De Minaur in the fourth round and Rune in the quarter final. 

The most interesting first round matches are Andy Murray vs Roman Safiulin, Stan Wawrinka vs Dusan Lajovic and Shang Juncheng vs Yosuke Watanuki. 

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Jannik Sinner beats Grigor Dimitrov to set up semifinal against Carlos Alcaraz

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02/10/2023

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Jannik Sinner overcame Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 3-6 6-2 to set up a blockbuster semifinal match against Carlos Alcaraz at the China Open in Beijing. 

 

Sinner converted his fourth break point in the first game. The Italian player saved the second break point with a forehand drop-shot. The Toronto Masters 1000 champion held on his next service games to close out the first set 6-4. 

Sinner missed the chance to close out the match in straight sets when he was unable to convert eight points across three games in the second set. He wasted four break points when he was leading 0-40 at 3-3. Dimitrov brke serve in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead. The Bulgarian player saved two break-back points in the ninth game to hold serve for 6-3. 

Sinner broke serve in the second game of the third set with a crosscourt backhand winner and held serve at 30 with a passing shot. 

Dimitrov held his first service game of the third set for 1-3. Sinner saved a break point with a forehand to hold serve at deuce for 4-1. Dimitrov saved a break point at deuce in the sixth game. 

Sinner fended off two break points in the seventh game to hold serve with a passing shot. The Wimbledon semifinalist closed out the third set with a break at love to reach his eighth semifinal in 2023. 

Sinner clinched his 47th match of the season. 

“I had one game 15-40, one game 0-40 where I made some unforced errors and he also prayed quite aggressive. This is tennis. Obviously it’s easier if you take some chances. In the third set I thought I handled the situation well, when I was serving at a tough moment at 4-2. I am very happy to be in the next round”, said Sinner.  

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Iga Swiatek beats Sara Sorribes Tormo to reach the second round in Beijing

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02/10/2023

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Four-time Grand Slam champion and world number 2 Iga Swiatek beat Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4 6-3 on her debut at the China Open in Beijing. Swiatek broke seven times and hit 27 winners to 25 unforced errors. 

 

Both players traded breaks at the start of the opening set. Swiatek earned her second break in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead. The Polish player fired 17 winners and won 15 of her 17 net points in the first set. 

There were eight breaks in nine games. Swiatek won 12 of the first 14 points of the second set to race out to a 3-0 lead with a double break. Sorribes Tormo broke three times in the second set, but Swiatek broke in all five of her service games.  

Swiatek set up a second round match against Varvara Gracheva.

“Today I felt really confident and comfortable because I have been practicing that a lot. I am pretty proud of my performance at the net because, technically, I feel like my volley has changed. I am really happy with that. I think against some players it’s necessary to go to the net. Today that was that kind of a match”, said Swiatek. 

Jelena Ostapenko reached the Round of 16 via walkover after Linda Noskova withdrew from the match due to illness.

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