Who is Na Li?
I don’t know, but I’d better be a quick learner, because chances are I’m going to be chatting about her quite often in the coming months. Na Li’s the fourth seed in the Strasbourg International tournament where yesterday she blasted Masa Zec-Peskiric 6-3, 6-3. She won 20 single titles in 5 years. She often plays doubles alongside recent Rome conqueror Jelena Jankovic. She’s ranked 18th and rising. She’s a millionaire. No matter if you say it Na Li or Li Na her name is going to carry some weight before it is all said and done.
She’s been competing since 1999 and has climbed up from 40th in the world to her current ranking. In this last tournament before Roland Garros, Li could possibly face Mauresmo or her ally Jankovic. This warm up should be a good test for all of these ladies as we head into the second grand slam of the year.
On the men’s side, Roddick advanced to the second round in his pre-French Open tournament Hypo Group International. Andy was weary of his performance.
“It was a close match. I played well but made too many unforced errors,” Roddick said.
The American outlasted Alexander Peya 6-4, 7-5. He’ll play Kristian Pless of Denmark next.
So this last week of play before the French is an interesting time to watch some players prepare and for others to enjoy their recent accomplishments.
June 17th, 2007 at 2:23 am
Note that Li’s “20″ titles are not all WTA Tour titles. 19 are lower staged ITF titles.