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London (dpa) - Na Li made history for China Monday as she became the first woman from the world's most populous nation to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam event.
The 24-year-old from Wuhan, playing the event for the first time after Chinese women were forced in 2005 to compete in their national championships during the Wimbledon fortnight, reached the last eight over Czech tenth seed Nicole Vaidisova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Li has surged over 40 ranking spots in the last few months to number 30, the first Chinese woman ever to rank that high.
Her victory over 2004 US Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round was her biggest to date.
Li was only the second Chinese woman to reach the second week of a Grand Slam.
The first was at 2004 Roland Garros, where Zheng Jie got to the fourth round, losing to Argentine Paola Suarez. Previously, five Chinese women had reached the third round or better at majors.
"I'm proud of myself and I'm very proud for my country, as well," said Li, speaking through a translator. "Chinese tennis now will just keep getting better and better."
Li, who lost the a first-ever all Chinese WTA Tour final due to cramping as she played compatriot Zheng in Estoril in May, will face second seed Kim Clijsters in the quarter-finals.
Liu said that her first exposure to Wimbledon came through videos of past matches.
"It seemed so distant to me at that time, it was so far away from me," she said.
The newest heroine of sport with the 2008 Beijing Olympics fast approaching credited Chinese-American Michael Chang with helping development of the game in the land of his ancestors.
"As a Chinese player, Michael Chang I think has influenced every single Chinese Asian person," she said. "Especially since he played very well.'
But she said that the Athens Olympic doubles gold-medal pair of Tian-Tian Sun and Ting Li were the first of the Chinese tennis pioneers.
"Before me, they won the Olympics," she said.
Li said that Chinese women have been the focus of government investment, which could account for their fast-improving showing on the world stage as opposed to men, who barely register on the radar.
But as to any dreams of some day winning Wimbledon, the player said she has throttled back her hopes.
"I've had this kind of dream, but I had to drop it. The more you expect, the more disappointment you can have. I had to get back to the reality."
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. Sent via WebAccess by Scott MEZ 03-07-2006_18:00
031609 GMT Jul 06
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
