Some tears but ‘no regrets’ for Li Na

CHINESE tennis star Li Na has “no regrets” about her decision to retire over persistent knee injuries, but wiped away tears as she acknowledged yesterday that she had thought long and hard about the decision. The two-time Grand Slam winner was making her first public remarks since she announced her retirement last Friday. “I’m very satisfied with my tennis career,” 32-year-old Li told reporters at China’s National Tennis Center in Beijing, which hosts the China Open later this month. “I feel this is the best time for me to retire. I don’t feel sorry or have any regrets about retiring. When I was making this decision, I asked myself, ‘If I retire, will I regret it?’ “My heart told me I wouldn’t, because I’ve done my best.” The event was an emotional one both for Li and the nearly 200 journalists who attended. At one point, a Chinese journalist raised his hand to ask a question, but then went silent before breaking down into tears. “Here, take this,” Li said, holding out a tissue from her seat at the podium and holding back tears of her own. Li’s announcement came just seven months after she lifted the Australian Open title, one of her career highlights following her French Open victory in 2011.