Roland Garros Rewind

French Open flashback: 10 years since Li Na captured title

On the 10th anniversary of Li Na's historic title at 2011 Roland Garros, review her championship story in photos.

01 /10
Ten years ago, Li Na of China made a historic run to the 2011 Roland Garros women’s singles title. At the age of 29, Li became the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam singles title.

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02 /10
Li came into Paris that year after a runner-up showing at the previous major, where she fell to Kim Clijsters in a three-set final at the 2011 Australian Open. She had also made the semifinals of her two prior clay-court events, in Madrid and Rome.

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03 /10
After reaching the second week of Roland Garros, the 6th-seeded Li had to defeat four fellow Top 10 players in a row. First, she came back from a set down to beat No.9 seed Petra Kvitova in the round of 16.

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04 /10
Li followed that up with straight-set wins over No.4 seed Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals and No.7 seed Maria Sharapova in the semifinals, moving into her second Grand Slam final in a row.

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05 /10
At last, Li stared down defending champion and No.5 seed Francesca Schiavone in the final. Schiavone was on a 13-match winning streak at Roland Garros.

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06 /10
But it was Li who came out the victor in their battle, sweeping through a flawless second-set tiebreak to prevail 6-4, 7-6(0) and earn her first major title. Li rose to a new career-high ranking of World No.4 following her win.

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07 /10
Reuters reported that Li's championship victory was viewed by over 100 million people in her home country, the most-watched sporting event of that year in China.

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08 /10
"I think more children, they saw the match," Li said one month later at Wimbledon. "They think, 'Okay, maybe someday I can do the same or even better than her.' I think now the children have more confidence to play professional tennis."

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09 /10
After the 2011 Roland Garros title, Li would reach two more Grand Slam finals, with a second runner-up showing at the 2013 Australian Open before winning the trophy Down Under in 2014.

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10 /10
Li hit a career-high ranking of World No.2 in 2014 before retiring from the sport later that year. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2019.

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