Known as one of China's "coldest" players, China's singles ace Li Na's emotions got the best of her at the Olympic Green Tennis Center Saturday, saying she owes her historic semifinal run to her husband's love.
The 26-year-old Li, who lost to a sizzling Dinara Safina 7-6 (3), 7-5, finally got to relieve some of the intense pressure she's felt during the Games. The home star wouldn't answer questions about her husband Jiang Shan at first, but started crying as she recounted her four-year preparation for the Games.
Li Na of China hits a return against Dinara Safina of Russia in their women's semifinal tennis match at the Olympic Green Tennis Center during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games on August 16, 2008. Safina braved a partisan crowd to oust Li 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 and set up an all-Russian final with 2000 silver-medallist Elena Dementieva. [Agencies]
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"The Olympics let me understand who really loves me and cares about me," said a weeping Li. "Over the past four years, I had a lot of hard moments, especially those when I was injured and couldn't do anything but stay in bed all day. But my husband Jiang was always there, taking good care of me and encouraging me when I was down.
"I know I am a girl with a very bad temper, but he is always tolerant of me. I am grateful to Jiang, I hope he's proud of my performance this time."
Jiang has been Li's coach and number one fan since 2006. Li has often talked about how much he has supported her.
In what she describes as the "most important tournament of (her) life", Li beat world No 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova and then No 8 Venus Williams to get to the semifinals. No Chinese player had ever won an Olympic singles match before this year.
Li battled back from several injuries to make her historic run. First was a rib inflammation that sidelined her for six months, followed by surgery on her left knee only three months before the Games.
Li said the days of rehabilitation in Germany following that surgery were among the most difficult for her and Jiang.
"After the surgery, the pressure was too much for me," Li said. "I was really scared. I didn't know whether I could return to court for the Olympics because there was only three months to go.
"And we lived in a foreign country, just the two of us. He was the only one I could rely on and he simply gave me everything that I needed."
Despite China's lofty Olympic goal of winning a singles' medal, the country can still be happy with Li's showing in Beijing. With a string of magical performances, a semifinal finish is something Li can celebrate.
"I've tried my best," she said. "I have nothing to regret. I am happy to see myself grow stronger by overcoming injuries and the ups and downs of my career. Also, winning some matches that I wasn't supposed to win is a great feeling."
But the hard-nosed Li is already looking forward to the upcoming US Open and even the next season.
"For me, the Olympics is about to end, so I don't want to think about it anymore," Li said. "No matter what you've won, there are always new challenges ahead.
"My next tournament will be the US Open, which I didn't play last year because of my rib injury, so now I'm looking forward to the new test. And I haven't made any major progress on my ranking this season, so I will try to stay away from injuries next season and hopefully I will make the top 20 or maybe 15 next year."
Li was in good shape Saturday but was unable to stop the all-conquering Safina.
The Russian had played three matches in the previous 24 hours - she beat Li and newly crowned world No 1 Jelena Jankovic in singles, but lost to Zheng Jie and Yan Zi in a doubles event that ended at 3:10 Saturday morning.
Li will play Russian Vera Zvonareva today for the bronze medal.
