Published : 2025-06-04
On June 4, 2011, China's leading tennis player Li Na (李娜) made history in the French Open women's singles final, defeating Italy's Francesca Schiavone in straight sets to claim her first French Open title. She also became the first Asian to lift a Grand Slam singles trophy.
At that year's French Open, Li Na defeated three top 10 players, including former world number one Maria Sharapova, and reached the stage of the 2011 French Open final, where she faced off against the defending champion, 5th-seeded Francesca Schiavone.
Schiavone had previously eliminated Li Na in the round of 32 at the 2010 French Open. With a strong desire for revenge, Li Na's offense was fierce that day, leaving Schiavone struggling to keep up.
Li Na broke serve in the fifth game and won the first set 6-4 with powerful shots and relentless attacks.
In the second set of the final, the 29-year-old Chinese player broke serve strongly in the first game, but Schiavone, known for her resilience, used sturdy defence combined with slices and topspin shots that led to an increase in Li Na's errors.
In the eighth game, Schiavone successfully broke back, levelling the score at 4-4.
At this crucial moment, Li Na, showing her strong mental strength, quickly adjusted and continued to pressure Schiavone with fast and aggressive attacks, giving no further break opportunities to her opponent.
The set went into a tiebreak, where Li seized the opportunity and won the tiebreak 7-0, clinching the match with sets of 6-4 and 7-6 to capture her first French Open title.
Finally, the "Suzanne Lenglen Cup," symbolising the highest honour of the French Open, bore the name of a Chinese winner.
Winning the French Open also meant that Li Na's dream of a Grand Slam title had finally come true.
At that time, her world ranking rose from 7th to 4th, tying the highest ranking achieved by Japan's Kimiko Date (伊達公子).
In 2014, Li Na won the Australian Open, claiming her second Grand Slam trophy. This was the first singles title won by an Asian player in the Australian Open's century-long history and also made her the oldest singles champion in the Open Era of the Australian Open.
