Give China's young tennis stars room to grow, pleads Li Na
Australian Open champion hopes the press will treat rising players better than her so they can develop their talents and become better people
World number two Li Na has used World Tennis Day to issue an impassioned plea for China's young stars to be left alone to develop both as players and as people.
"Every junior has his or her uniqueness," said Li. "I ask the press to give them space so they can develop as players and to give them encouragement rather than ask for opinions [on them] from me."
The 32-year-old Li has had an often-tempestuous relationship with certain sections of the Chinese media and yesterday laid the blame on the fact that they tried to pry too much into her personal life, something she hoped the next generation of Chinese players wouldn't have to face.
Li famously walked away from the sport from 2002-2004 to take on a degree in journalism at the Huazhong Institute of Science and Technology and she said she had done so to better prepare herself for life on tour and for dealing with press conferences.
"The first time I retired I felt I didn't have good communication with some journalists. So I wanted to learn why they always wrote the wrong thing," said Li.
"But when I studied I learned that this wasn't always about the journalist; it was about their personality.
"So having finished university, I think I am much stronger when I face journalists and it has helped me a lot for press conferences."