Li Na says that she will try and play at the new WTA tournament in Hong Kong when it debuts in 2014. The International Series level tournament will take place the week after the U.S. Open. As a Top 10 player, Li can only play one International Series tournament in the second half of the season.
"I will fight for the chance to come," said Li at a press conference for next month’s BNP Paribas Showdown exhibition in Hong Kong, where she will face Caroline Wozniacki. "It depends on my physical condition, I can't guarantee that I will come [in 2014]. After all there are still some unknown factors."
The addition of Hong Kong means that in 2014 there will be five tournaments in China for the first time and four of them will be in the fall: Hong Kong, Guangzhou (also an International Series event) Wuhan (a WTA Premier-level event that is taking the place of Tokyo), and Beijing (a WTA Premier Mandatory event). Two of three cities left in the running for the season-ending WTA Championships are also in Asia: Singapore and Tianjin, China. Monterrey, Mexico is also in the running.
Li also said that she has not picked played since her loss to Victoria Azarenka in the Australian Open final. She twisted her ankle twice in that match and will travel to see a doctor in Germany on Monday.