Li Na Wins The Australian Open At Age 31 and 334 Days Old

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 27th January 2014

Li Na Wins The Australian Open At Age 31 and 334 Days Old

epa04040790 Li Na of China celebrates after winning her match against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in the women's final of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2014. EPA/MARK DADSWELL AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

When Li Na won the French Open, approaching four years ago, she admitted she wasn’t expecting her victory and things went too fast so she couldn’t savor her celebrations. After finally adding the Australian Open after two disappointments in finals, she does not intend to be so wasteful.

She has become the oldest Australian Open champion and third oldest Grand Slam winner of the Open era, only behind Martina Navratilova (33 years and 263 days old when she won Wimbledon in 1990) and Britain’s Virginia Wade (31 years and 357 days old when she experienced victory on the All England Club’s Centre Court in 1977.)

“I’m not old,” retorted the new world no.3 who was 31 years 334 days old when she overcame Dominika Cibulkova 7-6,6-0 after having to survive a match point against Lucie Safarova a week earlier in the third round. “At the start of tournament everybody [was] talking about my age. I would like to say age is nothing. Still can win the Grand Slam. So [I’m] pretty happy about my age. It means I [have] got more experience on the court.

“Back when I won the French Open, I didn’t really prepare for the win but I would like to say I prepared for this one really. Every round and every day I was thinking about what I should do. Also at the French I was feeling I [would] just go for it. I didn’t think about win or lose. This time nobody knew how hard I was working mentally to make this one.”

Li admitted anxiety affected her in the early stages and she took time to settle. “In the beginning it was little bit tough because I [was] more tight,” she said. “Before I come to the court I was telling myself, ‘Don’t think about it being [the ] final and just play your game.

“But in that situation, you cannot think this is [a] normal match. [The] final is the final. [The] beginning was little bit tough. But I think I was starting to play when the tiebreak began. I was thinking, ‘OK, now you have to go, otherwise it’s [going to be] very tough for you.”

Finalist Cibulkova admitted she had no real answer to Li Na’s dominance after an almost equal first that extended an hour and ten minutes. The second set was a truncated affair of 27 minutes and the girl from Bratislava admitted: “She was the one who was dictating the game.

“I can only regret that my serve was not really there. Then in the second set she could push me from the first ball, and I was under pressure all the time. This is why she was better. She was more relaxed and going for her shots. After a while it was impossible for me to do anything or be aggressive because she was just playing really, really well.”

Topics: 10sballs, Australian Open, Dominika Cibulkova, Li Na, Lucie Safarova, Martina Navratilova, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News