Tennis: Popular Li eager for repeat in Paris

With last year's earnings estimated at US$18.2 million ($21.3 million), Li is third on Forbes' list of the highest-earning sportswomen. Photo / AP

Li Na has a spring in her step as she aims to repeat her 2011 triumph at the French Open in Paris.

Nine of the top 10 people on Forbes magazine's list of China's most famous celebrities are actors or singers. Li Na, who is the exception, is listed as an athlete, but even away from the court the world No2 women's tennis player is a great entertainer.

Her cheeky sense of humour captivated the Melbourne crowd when she won this year's Australian Open - at the presentation ceremony she told her husband he was "so lucky to find me" and thanked her agent "for making me rich".

Li, who goes into this week's French Open as one of the favourites, has been a key factor in the rise of tennis in China.

The Women's Tennis Association now has an office in Beijing, and there are more WTA tournaments being staged in China. One of the additions to the 2014 calendar is the Wuhan Open in Li's home city.

The sport has recently been introduced into the country's schools and tennis courts have become a regular feature of new housing projects.

"Tennis in China has grown up, but we still have a lot more to do to improve," Li said. "Tennis in Europe or America has more than 100 years of history behind it. In China tennis is pretty young."

With last year's earnings estimated at US$18.2 million ($21.3 million), Li is third on Forbes' list of the highest-earning sportswomen, behind two other tennis players, Maria Sharapova (US$29 million) and Serena Williams (US$20.5 million).

Multinational companies see her as a way into the vast Chinese market. Her agent, Max Eisenbud, who also represents Sharapova, has made lucrative deals with Mercedes, Samsung, Rolex and Nike.

With more than 23 million followers on the Chinese microblogging website Weibo, does she feel weighed down by the expectations when she plays in China?

"I used to feel a lot of pressure," she says. "I like to play in my home country, but at the same time I was also a little bit worried. Now I enjoy it more."

- Independent