Li Na or Na Li?

She belongs among the 10 best female players in the world, has reached a Grand Slam final for the third time in her career and is one of the few players who prefers not to be in the spotlight when off the tennis court.

Are we talking about Li Na or is it Na Li?

There has been confusion regarding her name for quite some time now. Let’s now clarify this: According to the traditions of the Chinese language “Mandarin”, she is called “Li Na” with “Li” as her surname and “Na” as her first name. In China people are named with their surname first followed by their first name.

Thus following the Chinese tradition the scoreboard at the Australian Open finals on Saturday should say: Li Na versus Azarenka Victoria.

So who is Li Na?
Li was born on 26.02.1982 in Wuhan, China, as the daughter of a professional badminton player. At the age of six she followed in her father’s footsteps, playing badminton, but changed her course and devoted herself to the sport of tennis two years later.

She took lessons at the local tennis club from Coach Xia Xiyao until she became a member of China’s national tennis team at the age of 15. Two years later she turned pro and has won 6 WTA and 19 ITF titles since then. On June 4^th Li won – as the first Asian ever – the French Open title.

At the end of 2002, Li decided to leave the national team and to earn her Bachelors degree in “Journalism” at the University of Huanzhong.

At that time the Chinese media speculated a lot about that decision and it was assumed that Li’s relationship with her teammate and future husband Jiang Shan had caused some irritation within the team. Others claimed that her former coach Yu Liqiao was too strict while others asserted that Li's wish to have a private coach provided from the Chinese Tennis Association was simply ignored.
Anyway, the way the young Chinese woman went was the right way, as after Australia and Paris in 2011, she has again reached the final of a Grand Slam tournament. What she has to say about reaching the final is below, check it out:

Since August 2012 Li has been coached by Carlos Rodriguez, former coach of Justine Henin. Li has also been an ambassador for the racket manufacturer Babolat and the sporting goods manufacturer Nike for several years now.

Li's weapon of choice is the Babolat Pure Drive, available at TennisPlanet UK.

Find an overview of the current Nike collection here: TennisPlanet Nike.