Li Na officially announces retirement
Li Na, the only Asian player to ever hoist a Grand Slam singles trophy, announced her retirement Thursday due to persistent knee problems.
Li, ranked sixth in the world, made the announcement in a heartfelt Facebook letter to her fans and followers who she referred to as her "dear friends."
It was just a few short months ago that Li hammered her way to an Australian Open title, and bumped her world ranking to a career-best No. 2. She played near-flawless tennis in the latter rounds of that tournament, covering the court impeccably, smacking consistently deep groundstrokes and angling her opponents out of rallies. She finished the tournament on a nine-match winning streak, and in six of those sets she lost two games or fewer.
The Grand Slam was the second of the Chinese athlete's career. She previously captured the French Open in 2011.
But after having her fourth knee surgery following her third-round loss at Wimbledon, Li said she realized she'd never be able to get back to being the player she was:
After four knee surgeries and hundreds of shots injected into my knee weekly to alleviate swelling and pain, my body is begging me to stop the pounding. My previous three surgeries were on my right knee. My most recent knee surgery took place this July and was on my left knee. After a few weeks of post-surgery recovery, I tried to go through all the necessary steps to get back on the court.
While I’ve come back from surgery in the past, this time it felt different. One of my goals was to recover as fast as I could in order to be ready for the first WTA tournament in my hometown of Wuhan. As hard as I tried to get back to being 100%, my body kept telling me that, at 32, I will not be able to compete at the top level ever again.
(...)
Winning a Grand Slam title this year and achieving a ranking of World No.2 is the way I would like to leave competitive tennis. As hard as it’s been to come to this decision, I am at peace with it. I have no regrets.
On its upcoming Asian swing, the WTA tournament will play its first tournament in Wuhan. She had hoped to be healthy enough to participate in the event.
"Without question I believe that Li Na is the player of this decade who will have the most impact on the growth of women’s tennis," said WTA chief executive Stacey Allaster.
"We will see the fruit of her contributions. We’re experiencing them now, but they will be long-lasting throughout the rest of this decade, and I believe for decades to come."