TENNIS:TRYING TO win a grand slam title when Kim Clijsters is on the other side of the net is a tough enough task in itself; doing it when the world's most populated country is following your every move is something else altogether. As China's leading player for several years now, Li Na has become used to dealing with the hopes of a nation but when she plays the Belgian in the final of the Australian Open tomorrow even she will do well not to be weighed down by the burden of expectation.

The 28-year-old is already the first Chinese player to reach a grand slam singles final, by beating Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, but if Li can beat Clijsters her place in history will be assured.

Investment in tennis in her homeland only really began in 2001 when they were awarded the right to host the Beijing Olympics and Li is now one of four Chinese in the women’s top 100.

The world number 11 has long been China’s leading light but with an estimated 14 million people there playing the sport regularly, a victory for Li may just kickstart a new generation.

Li said: “I think maybe because I am in the final, maybe many young players or children will see and think, maybe one day we can do the same or even better than her.

“Someday they will feel more confident because, the China Tennis Federation is maybe not so interested in tennis.

“But right now, maybe they will say, ‘maybe we should be looking around tennis’. So I think if we do better, more people will come to watch and pay attention.”

When Li and Zheng Jie returned home to Beijing after reaching the semi-finals at the Australian Open last year, they were given a rapturous welcome, even if Li did have to put up with one local journalist who felt her technique on her forehand had let her down. He was quickly shot down by his colleagues and the party began.

It is a fair bet that were she to beat Clijsters the celebrations would top anything Li has seen.

It seems strange to think that when she was struggling to break into the top 100 Li decided that a career in the media might be preferable to scrambling around the lower levels of the tour.

She took two years off between 2002 and 2004 to go to university and, though her talent had never been in doubt, she said the break gave her the motivation she had been lacking. When she returned to the tour, she soon rocketed up the rankings.

Despite all the people who will be there to cheer her on, one person will be missing. Her mother, Yan-ping, has never seen her daughter play a professional match.

“I think she prefers to stay at home,” Li said.

“I have asked her many times to come with me and she just says: ‘No, I have my life, I don’t want to come with you’.”

Li beat Clijsters in their most recent encounter in the final of the warm-up event in Sydney earlier this month, a match the Belgian led 5-0 only to lose her way.

But when it matters, the 27-year-old is generally a different animal and victory would give Clijsters a fourth grand slam title and her third since she came out of a two-year retirement in the summer of 2009.

“It’s never over (with Li),” she said. “I think she’s a good player and we’re very similar types of players. We have a lot of things in common on the court. It’ll be an interesting one. She’s obviously playing with a lot of confidence; so am I.

“It’s nice to be in the situation with the last two standing and trying to finish on top. It should be a good one.”