Chinese tennis star Li Na retires due to knee injuries

Wuhan: China's Li Na announced her retirement at the age of 32 over persistent knee injuries on Friday, prompting a wave of adulation for Asia's greatest and most influential tennis player. Li, the first Asian national to win a Grand Slam singles title, said "my body is begging me to stop the pounding" as she ended a career that brought her nine titles and introduced tennis to the masses in China.

"As a professional tennis player, it is the best decision for me to leave the field. I've achieved far more than I'd dreamed for, and it's my biggest pride to have won glory for the country," she said in her microblog.

The announcement comes just seven months after Li lifted the Australian Open title, one of her career highlights following her historic French Open win of 2011. That heady night in Melbourne proved the last time Li would win a trophy as she fell victim to her knee injuries and was sidelined since losing in Wimbledon's third round in June.

Li was also hit by a heavy blow when her inspirational coach Carlos Rodriguez, former mentor of Justine Henin, ended their partnership in July.

Li's success put her on the cover of Time magazine and saw her placed second, behind Russia's Maria Sharapova, on a Forbes list of the highest paid female athletes. She was also positioned front and centre of a push by women's tennis into Asia, with several new tournaments including next week's WTA Wuhan Open in her home city.

 "After four knee surgeries and hundreds of shots injected into my knee weekly to alleviate swelling and pain, my body is begging me to stop the pounding," she wrote, noting that whereas she has bounced back from surgery in the past, "this time, it felt different".