The Rise and Rise of Na Li: China's First Top 10 Star

Na Li will make national history in the world of women’s tennis on Monday when she becomes the first Chinese player to break into the world’s top 10.

Li’s strong run in Melbourne has carried her to her first semifinal appearance at a Grand Slam and, maybe more importantly, it has catapulted her from her No. 15 spot to the upper echelons of the women’s game.

Li, who celebrated her 28th birthday on Tuesday, has knocked off three seeds in her last three times on court, and only Serena Williams stands in the way of Li competing in her maiden Major final.

Li’s breakthrough has not happened overnight though. In fact, you can probably document it back to 2004 when she finally cracked the top 100 following her first Tour singles title at Guangzhou.

Even at that stage in her career though, Li was already accomplished on the ITF tour, having won 18 lesser-heralded singles tournaments and a string of doubles titles in the five years since she turned pro.

2005 brought more of the same for one of the fastest-rising stars in the game. She played in the main draw of her first two Grand Slams at the Australian Open and US Open, and she came in runner-up to Safarova in the final at Estoril.

Li, who grew up in Hubei playing badminton, cemented her love affair with the game when she made her top 50 debut on Valentine’s Day, and she became the highest-ranked Chinese woman in the history of the game when she rose to No. 35 in May.

Li continued to climb in 2006. She broke into the top 30 after a run to the third round in Birmingham and followed that up at Wimbledon two weeks later by becoming the first Chinese female to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. August saw her entry into the world’s top 20—another national first—and she made history with Jie Zheng in Estoril in the first all-Chinese Tour singles final.

With the prospect of a top-10 spot in the world rankings up for grabs in 2007, Li was playing some of her best ever tennis. After peaking at No. 16 because of her run to the semifinals in Sydney in January, Li made it first to the fourth round at the Australian Open and then to the third round of Roland Garros.

But following her quarterfinal defeat to Santangelo at Birmingham, Li was forced to miss the remainder of the grass court season and all of the fall’s hard court tournaments because of a right rib stress fracture. Strong runs at any of the 13 events she had to pull out of would have almost certainly propelled her higher and, considering her start to the season, there was every reason to believe she could make the second week of another Slam or challenge for another Tour trophy.

When Li, an accomplished doubles player, did finally return from the lengthy lay-off, she was as good as ever. She defeated Victoria Azarenka in her first week back to capture her second Tour title at Gold Coast, and she made the semifinals of three more singles tournaments in Antwerp, Doha, and Luxembourg. She also made it to the final four in the Olympics, losing out in the bronze medal match to Vera Zvonareva.

As in 2007 though, her season was marred with injury. She missed three months of the European clay court season with right knee surgery and was unable to make it past the second round at Wimbledon on her return in June. She did get stronger as the year went on though and she rounded off an up-and-down season with her best run at the US Open and third straight top-30 finish.

With another promising year on the cards, Li’s 2009 season played out in much the same way that the middle of 2008 did. Knee injuries caused her to pull out of Brisbane, Sydney, and the Australian Open at the top of the year, and she also missed hard court tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto after retiring in LA prior to her third round encounter with Urszula Radwanska.

Still, the 5'8" Li plowed forward, making the finals of Monterrey and Birmingham and losing to eventual US Open champion Kim Clijsters at Flushing Meadows. A year-ending spot at No. 15 in the rankings was well deserved, and it no doubt propelled her into the new decade full of confidence and self belief.

A healthy Li is a dangerous prospect for anyone and many people expected her to make waves at the ASB Classic in Auckalnd where she was the No. 2 seed.

A disappointing first-round loss to Estonian Kaia Kanepi was not what anyone had expected, but pundits ruled it out to rust after she defeated world No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki in Sydney just seven days later.

Even still, few people expected her to do as well as she has done in Melbourne. Placed in the top half of the draw and in the same quarter as Wozniacki, Li was never really seen as a threat to the top eight. After a comfortable 6-2, 6-0 win over Marina Erakovic in round one, Li was one point from a straight-sets elimination against Hungarian Agnes Szavay in round two.

Surviving match point and dumping Szavay out, Li then dispatched No. 22 seed Daniela Hantuchova in the third round before surprising everyone with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Caroline Wozniacki. Sure, Li was a little erratic—her 34 unforced errors are a testament to that—but she also hit 21 winners to the Dane’s three.

Her all-or-nothing game plan of spraying balls to all corners of the court almost cost her in the quarterfinals against No. 6 Venus Williams, but again she found a way to win when really she shouldn’t have.

Williams raced away to a 6-2, 30-minute first set, but Li held on and weathered the erratic storm of the American. Neither player was consistent and, in a match that saw 110 combined errors and 17 breaks of serve, either one could've been just one step away from the final. But it was Li who was standing tall when it was all over.

Win or lose against Serena Williams on Thursday, Li’s place inside the top 10 on Monday is already secured. Should Li win, however, there is also the prospect of a first ever all-Chinese Grand Slam final if Jie Zheng upsets Justine Henin.

Li has made history numerous times in her career already. Now all that remains to be seen is whether she can add a Grand Slam to her resume and lay claim to the greatest Chinese tennis player of all time.

Li’s top 10 spot is thoroughly deserved and it stands as a fantastic reflection of both the ability and determination of a woman who would have been here three years ago if injury had not cut short her chances.

She's a credit to the game, and her ranking finally reflects her talent. It's been a long time coming, but it was—as all great things tend to be—definitely worth the wait.