Popular Women’s Tennis player Li Na moved to the World number two ranking in the past week and has become the best ever ranked Asian tennis player. Her compatriot Peng Shuai was also rated the top ranked women’s doubles player, which was a massive shot in the arm for Chinese Tennis.
Li who turns 32 this month, is helping the sport gain traction in Asia. Several major tournaments in the region have been planned on the back of her success including one in her home town of Wuhan.
Peng became the first Chinese player to top the doubles rankings with her Taiwanese partner Hsieh Su-Wei ranked second. The two recently won the Qatar Open, a tournament where the Australian Open Champion Li bowed out in the third round.
Li had already become the highest ranked Asian when she moved into third position in the WTA Rankings but now has moved higher. She remains however a fair way behind the World Number one, – 6690 ranking points in fact – behind 17 time Grand Slam winner Serene Williams, who is also aged 32.
This is great news fro Tennis in Asia and it will be interesting to see how it impacts on the region in the years to come.
