Dubai: A lot has changed for Chinese tennis sensation Li Na after her amazing run at this year's Australian Open.
"Maybe before I could throw my racquet and do something bad on the court. But now I can't do that anymore since many watching me would say she's doing that and also I can do that. Some things of course have changed and I will be looking forward what I do on the courts," Li Na told reporters at the 11th edition of the Dubai Duty Free Women's Open which started on Monday.
"I mean I was in the finals and of course there are players who can do better than me in three or five years. So I have gained a lot of confidence after the finals and in China, three television stations showed the finals. So after the final all the tennis courts [in China] are full. So I think there will be a pool of tennis [players] from China," she predicted.
Adulation
However, she is comfortable with the adulation and attention she has been receiving back home.
"I prefer to be famous. After I retire I would like to get back to a normal life. Some Chinese athletes don't prefer to be famous. Everyone is different you know. I mean now I might be famous in China but I still prefer to do what I want, I don't need this thing about to do this or do that. I mean that is fake. I like being like the way I want," she added.
Li nearly became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam when she continued an amazing run in Melbourne last month until she stumbled in three sets against world number one Kim Clijsters in the final.
"Of course I take a lot of confidence forward. But I want to do well and like I said before, Australia is over and we now have to start anew," Li Na said.
From the central China metropolis of Wuhan, Li was a badminton player when she was six years old, but her coach kept noticing that she plays as if she were playing tennis. By the time she was eight, her coach asked her parents if she could switch to tennis, which she did at the age of nine. However, her career has been plagued by injuries that have interrupted her from playing for lengthy periods, and often preventing her from being ranked higher than her current No.5.
