CHINESE TENNIS STAR Li Na had fans roaring with laughter during her Australian Open victory speech as she thanked her agent for making her rich and gave damningly faint praise to her long-suffering husband.
Na, who secured her second Grand Slam title in her third Australian Open final, fired out the jokes after overcoming a tense first set to beat Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 7-6 (7/3), 6-0. In doing so, she became the oldest winner of the women’s title, surpassing Margaret Court who was 30 when she became champion in 1973.
“To Max my agent, you made me very rich. Thanks a lot,” was her first line, directed at agent Max Eisenbud in her players’ box. She also thanked her coach Carlos Rodriguez and her physio before finally turning to her husband Jiang Shan, her former coach and often the butt of her jokes.
“And of course, my husband. He’s even famous in China,” she said. “So thanks for him giving up everything, travelling with me to be my hitting partner, fix the drinks and fix my racquets.
“He does a good job so thanks a lot. You are a nice guy,” she deadpanned. “Also, you are so lucky for me.”
Li also admitted “you guys think I talk too much”, before walking off with the trophy. The 31-year-old has frequently poked fun at her husband in public, hitting out at everything from his snoring to his cooking skills.
Big, big blow for us and of course Pat Lam, Willie has been a fantastic signing since arriving last season as his regular Player of the Month and Supporters Player of the Season award testified (beating Henshaw & Marmion in the process) .
His loss is best exemplified by the change-around in the second half against Ulster, after he went off at 46mins.
A real pity as a run of games would have given him the chance to impress Joe Schmidt, but like every season if you get injured and miss out the AI squads, you’ll not be considered for the 6N’s. But hopefully Schmidt will incorporate a more traditional 7 in his line up to help slow down oppo ball and speed up our own, and he might get a shot in the future…