Li Getting Along With New Coach Rodriguez

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 9th January 2013

Li Getting Along With New Coach Rodriguez

epa03528635 Na Li of China in action during her womens singles match against Madison Keys of the USA at the Sydney International tennis tournament at Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre, Sydney, Australia, 09 January 2013. EPA/DEAN LEWINS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

China ‘s Li Na has finally sorted out her men along with her tennis as the 2011 French Open winner aims for perfect preparation for the upcoming Australian Open.

Li shot into the semi-final at her tune-up in Sydney , her 2012 new partnership with former Justine Henin coach Carlos Rodriguez now working well.

The Argentine who guided Belgian Henin to the top of the WTA is working his magic with the sometimes-headstrong Li, a national sporting heroine in the world’s most populous nation.

Li had her doubts about a new coach when they joined forces last August but needed to part professionally with husband Jiang Shan who had previously been her mentor and mate at the same time. Jiang remains a constant -0 if silent – force in her player box along with Rodrigues and German trainer Alex Stober.

“He gave me a lot of tough times when I was training with him,” Li said of her husband. After stating with Rodriguez last season, the No. 6 admitted: “The first three days, my husband didn’t come with me. After three days, I was calling him saying, ‘Please come with me’. I was thinking about retiring after three days, because he’s really, really tough.”

The Chinese ace is finding the hard-driving Rodriguez just the tonic she needs to improve. “He feels I can still do even more,” she said of the Argentine. “It’s very tough if you’ve got new thing. You need time to recover. You need time to get used to it. So where once you needed time to think about it, maybe you can do it automatically.

“So now I’m still trying to work like Carlos wants me to,” said the first Chinese player to win a singles event on the WTA circuit, the first into the top 20 and first Grand Slam quarter-finalist (Wimbledon, 2006).

She reached the top 10 – another Chinese record – before breaking through with the historic clay crown at Roland Garros. She is bidding to win Sydney for the second time in three years.