Chinese tennis sensation Li Na has rejected calls for her to hire an international coach is is getting visibly frustrated with questions about who would be best to coach her.
She said in an interview on Monday that she is happy with the team that she has in place and that as of this moment there are no plans to replace her current coach and husband, Jiang Shan.
When Li was asked whether or not she was considering hiring a non-Chinese coach for the 2012 London Olympics which are to be held later this year she replied “I don’t know why the media are so interested in this issue, maybe you are not confident in Jiang and my current team, but up to now, I haven’t had any intention of recruiting a foreign coach. And I hope the media won’t ask about it again.”
Jiang, a Chinese national was formerly a player himself before meeting Li and agreeing to coach her full time. He has had success in the job as well with Li Na making the final of the Australian Open under his direction.
Half way through last year Na replaced her coach with Denmarks Federation Cup captain Michael Mortensen and he helped her win the French open. However the two parted way after the US open last year. Jiang then took over the role again and will likely be Na’s coach for at least the remainder of the year.
Na is one of the favourites to win this year’s competition – the latest roland garros betting odds make her second favourite, behind just World Number One Caroline Wozniacki.