After making history, Li Na turned on her cell phone and found 44 text messages.
Friends, family, fellow tennis players, sports officials and the media were cheering her accomplishment at the Australian Open as a big step for the 28-year-old's career and potentially a giant leap for China.
When Li walks onto center court at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday for the championship match it will be the first time a Chinese player will play in a Grand Slam singles final. A victory by Li could give a major boost to tennis in China, where the sport has long struggled for recognition alongside badminton and table tennis.
Before hoisting the trophy, however, Li will have to overcome Kim Clijsters, a three-time U.S. Open champion who has long yearned to win in Melbourne. The 27-year-old Belgian has extra motivation to win this year, which she says could be her last Australian Open.
Bright-eyed, full of humor and savoring her moment in the spotlight, Li said she was amused by the avalanche of messages on her phone. She also said she was not fully aware of the reaction back home, and never reads news about herself to avoid seeing negative comments that could make her ''angry or sad.''
There's not much negative news at the moment.
''Li Na makes history entering the Australian Open final'' cheered the front page of the Beijing News. Inside, the widely read tabloid ran almost two pages of coverage on Li's semifinal upset over No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki on Thursday. Li saved a match point against Wozniacki and rallied from a set and a break down to win in three sets.
Chinese tennis federation head Sun Jinfang was widely quoted as hailing Li as China's newest international sports star, joining the ranks of Houston Rockets center Yao Ming and Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang.
''There is always a pioneer pushing things forward in her time and Li is a sporting pioneer of her time,'' Sun said.
Li might be a pioneer but she is also a bit of a rebel who has had her differences at times with the state-run sports system. Li took the rare step of breaking away from the state system in 2008 and hiring her own coach. At the end of 2010, she replaced former coach Thomas Hogstedt with her husband, Jiang Shan.
She has her own sense of style, too. Li has two upper ear piercings and a tattoo on her chest of a rose inside a heart, which she has proudly displayed at the Australian Open with a scoop-neck tennis shirt. She says as a child she was inspired by the young Andre Agassi, back when he had long hair and outraged tennis officialdom by playing in denim shorts.
One of the text messages Li received came from China's tennis federation boss.
''She said, 'Well done. (when) you come back, I pay (for) dinner.''' - to which Li replied: ''What? Only dinner?''
Another message came from her mother, who doesn't watch Li's matches because it makes her too nervous. But someone conveyed the good news. ''She sent me a text message. She said, 'Well done. I waiting for you in the home.' Yeah, that's it,'' Li said, laughing.
''My best friend just called me. She was crying on the phone,'' Li said, pretending to cry and hyperventilate at the same time. ''I was like, 'OK, take it easy. What do you want to say? Just calm down.'''
''I was feeling, maybe amazing day for the friends, for my family, for me,'' Li said.
The WTA is banking on Li's success to help spur the growth of tennis in China.
''Li Na's breakthrough performance will propel the popularity of women's tennis forward exponentially in the China market,'' WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster said in an e-mailed comment to The Associated Press. ''Women's tennis is already one of the fastest growing sports in China thanks to the celebrity status and success of Li Na and her compatriots.''
Last year, Li and fellow Chinese player Zheng Jie reached the semifinals in Melbourne, marking the first time two Chinese players had advanced that far at a Grand Slam.
The WTA has launched a Chinese-language website, opened a corporate office in Beijing and elevated the status of the China Open to one of the most important tournaments on the tour calendar. The WTA said it is in talks with Beijing authorities about increasing the number of professional tennis events in China as early as 2012.
Clijsters has beaten Li in four of their six matches, but Li won the most recent match only two weeks ago in the Sydney International final. Li rallied from a 5-0 deficit in the first set to beat the Belgian in straight sets and win the Australian Open tuneup tournament.
''I beat her last time,'' Li said, but it ''doesn't mean anything in here. I know it's a tough match.''
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Associated Press Writer Christopher Bodeen contributed to this report from Beijing.
