The French Open, famously won by Li Na in 2011, gets underway in less than two weeks, and to mark the highlight of the clay court season, GQ China has done a photo shoot with the Chinese star. Li called it one of the most fun shoots she’s done “in years” and the results are below (photos via Sina and Li Na’s Facebook page). Check out the crazy tan lines on her wrists (from her wristbands) and on her right knee (from the SpiderTech tape she’s worn since 2009).
Tag Archives: Taikang Life
Li Na & sponsors hoping for Australian Open history
Will it be third time lucky for Li Na at the Australian Open? A dominant semifinal performance saw Li put Canada’s rising star Genie Bouchard firmly in her place, racing to a 5-0 first set lead in just 14 minutes, before cruising to a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Li will play Dominika Cibulkova – Slovakia’s first Grand Slam finalist – on Saturday evening in Melbourne and will start as the heavy favorite in her third Australian Open final in four years, against an opponent she’s never lost to in four matches. But in a tournament full of upsets, who’s to say there won’t be one more? Continue reading Li Na & sponsors hoping for Australian Open history
Li Na gets waxed
No, we’re not talking about a Brazilian here. Chinese tennis superstar Li Na recently unveiled a wax statue of herself at the Madame Tussauds museum in her hometown of Wuhan, ahead of the museum’s official opening on September 28. Li Na is to Wuhan what pandas are to Chengdu so a statue of her was a must, especially since the WTA Tour will visit Wuhan for the first time in September 2014. The likeness is…well…interesting.
Judge for yourself here: Continue reading Li Na gets waxed
Li Na on course to be world’s highest earning female athlete
Saturday’s Australian Open women’s tennis final will be an all-Nike affair as Li Na faces off against Victoria Azarenka. Nothing particularly unusual there, given that the US sportswear giant also sponsors Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams. But Nike won’t quite have it all its own way.
That’s because Li Na has a deal – unique among Nike’s stable of tennis superstars that also includes Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer – that allows her to have two other brands on her shirt in addition to the Nike swoosh. Those two? The well-known car company Mercedes-Benz, and the less well-known insurance company Taikang Life.
With Li leading the way, Mercedes has projected that China will be its biggest market by 2015, so paying $4.5 million to get the company’s logo on Li’s right sleeve for three years would seem to be money well spent.
Continue reading Li Na on course to be world’s highest earning female athlete