Cao Kefan and Li Na took a group photo
Li Na, one of the most common female names in China, but it is this ordinary name that can no longer be ordinary, but it has become an Asian legend in the world tennis world.
As one of the first independent professional athletes in the history of Chinese tennis, Li Na, a post-80s girl born in Wuhan, won two Grand Slam women's singles titles in her career, as well as a brilliant record of ranking second in the world in singles, and became the first Asian player to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Director of this issue: Ni Shenzhen
Vol
After hanging up the auction in September 2014, Li Na returned to her family as a happy mother, and constantly thinking about how to share the wealth of tennis with her life to more people in need. She serves as a global ambassador for Special Olympics International, promoting the development of the Special Olympics movement while building a social climate of "acceptance, equality and respect" for people with intellectual disabilities.
"I think what's particularly good about Special Olympics is that kids can boost their self-confidence through physical exercise. They're on the sports field and you can see that they're really doing their best and doing all they can. They enjoyed the process and I think this is important. ”
Long before retiring, Li Na had a dream to open a tennis school when the conditions were ripe. The goal of this tennis school is not to train athletes to become champions, but to find a way out for 99.99% of children who may not be champions. At the same time, she also stressed that in addition to learning sports skills, cultural learning is also very important.
"I always tell my partners that this tennis school is not for the purpose of training champions, but for children, young players, teenagers, you can come to tennis training, provided that your cultural class has to pass. If you receive a call from the teacher saying that the student is not keeping up with the culture class a little bit now, you must stop the training. Your culture class must reach a certain level in order for you to have the opportunity and qualification to practice sports. ”
vol.2
Speaking of Li Na's tennis experience, it can be described as a twist and turn. She embarked on the path of professional athletes early at an ignorant age and did not have much time to think about the life she really wanted. In 2002, she had already won gold medals in women's singles and doubles at the National Games, but she chose to retire due to physical reasons and stepped into the university campus with her boyfriend Jiang Shan, who was also a retired tennis player. This two-year "yaw" period became an important turning point in her life.
"It turned out that I would think that tennis was everything to me, but after jumping out of this circle, I understood that when I thought this thing was all I was, it could be a very insignificant thing for others. At the beginning, I couldn't accept it, and I slowly felt that the world was like this. Because people are very limited, but the world is big, it is only through continuous learning that you can improve yourself. ”
"My biggest dream is to be able to hit the top ten in the professional world, I know it's hard, but I will try." This is the first time that 16-year-old Li Na has said her dream to the camera.
At the 2010 Australian Open, Li reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time, ranking in the world's top ten. At this moment, the dream of winning the world's highest honor in tennis, the Grand Slam title, gradually took shape in the hearts of Li Na and the team. At the same venue the following year, Li Became the first Asian player to reach a Grand Slam final.
While Chinese fans were still soaking up the joy of this historic breakthrough, Li Na once again amazed the world at that year's French Open. She beat the favourites such as Kvitova, Azarenka and Sharapova all the way to the final; when facing defending champion Schiavoni, she dropped two straight sets to seal the victory and win the first Grand Slam singles title trophy in China and even Asia.
Li Na's success in tennis, the mainstream sport in Europe and the United States, has undoubtedly raised the international prestige of Chinese athletes to a new height.
Vol
Li Na and Jiang Shan
Every athlete inevitably has ups and downs in their careers, and Li Na is no exception. After winning the French Open, she was in a slump and experienced a painful time. Fortunately, Jiang Shan was always with her. For Li Na, Jiang Shan, who has been working together for many years, is not only a husband in life and a partner in his career, but also like a spiritual father.
Now Li Na is a mother of two children, which is two completely different lives compared to her previous sports career. "When you are an athlete, your team is at your service, what dreams and goals you set, the whole team to cooperate with you to complete." 」 But after returning to the family, the children are the mainstay. Because as an athlete, we have to make plans for the second year in August every year, so you probably know what time and where it will be, and you will have a general idea. After having children, it is not at all, or you may expect to go out at eight o'clock, and it is already very good to go out at nine o'clock. Returning to her family, Li Na felt calm and content as never before.
"With him, I would feel that maybe I would encounter the same thing, and he would look at the problem very calmly, but what I saw, it may be just the surface sometimes." He would say that there are actually many aspects of this matter, and after he enlightened him, I think I may have a different perspective and role in looking at the world. ”
"The beauty of sports is that it is not the only measure of the championship, you are always challenging yourself, when today you are better than yesterday, I think this is victory." 」