Li Na claims she has not followed Dominika Cibulkova's progress through the Australian Open to the final on Saturday, where they will meet for the fifth time in their careers.
“For my tournament,” China’s charismatic tennis ambassador said, “I even didn’t see who I should play next round. I only follow what I should do on court.”
But even the eccentric Li, who has charmed Australian audiences since her first appearance in a final in 2011, will know that Cibulkova has been roaring through the draw like a wired-up pitbull, all 5ft 3in of her, routing in order Francesca Schiavone, Stefanie Vögele, Caria Suárez Navarro, Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep and Agnieszka Radwanska.
There are some numbers Li is aware of, however. This is her third final in Melbourne, she was reminded, so would it be third time lucky? “In China, six and eight are lucky. I’m not sure. I try to find the lucky way.”
So, had she, at 32, thought about retiring? “No. If I lose, I just continue until six or eight.” While some of Li’s musings are impenetrable, she did address the more elementary issue of how and why she has changed not only her grip during her serve, but her basic tennis philosophy, abandoning the baseline to explore attacking options at the net, at the urging of her coach, Carlos Rodríguez.
“Of course, in the beginning it was tough because I have to forget things I did for maybe 20 years. The first couple of days, the first week, was terrible for me. But I thought, now at least I am trying to change something. And now I use it on the court pretty well.
“When you are on the Tour so many years, everybody knows exactly how you play. So, if I didn’t change, I could stay in the top 10, top 20 – but I could not be the best in the world. So I really wanted to push myself to change. It’s very tough, having to think first, because you might lose the old things you did. I still trust myself, trust Carlos. I believe the change has helped me.”
As for her more go-forward aggression, she has edged up the serve-and-volley league table over the past fortnight, to equal fifth, having converted the point 49 times in 71 visits. By the standards of the women’s game, that is better than most, although still a good deal behind the most confident net-worker, Radwanska, who came in behind her 109 times, winning the point on 73 of them.
“I think I have a very good volley,” Li said. “The first time I went to Carlos he said: ‘You should come in more.’ I was, like, what is this guy talking about? In the beginning I was thinking, I will stay on the baseline for maybe a hundred years, and never try to come to the net.
“But, after he showed me the right way to do it, I tried. I felt good. It was not so bad. Especially at Wimbledon last year, I felt, if I lost the match, at least I tried. I found out something new about myself.”
While Li brings quirkiness, Cibulkova brings a different sort of passion. “I have had this energy since I was a little kid,” the Slovak said. “When I play my best tennis, that’s where you can see the power and the fight. You have to have something extra if you want to be one of the best tennis players, and you are not the tallest.”
Cibulkova is not only not the tallest, she is the smallest player in the top 100 – and would be the smallest slam champion in the history of the women’s game were she to beat Li. I think she might.
