Chinese star Li Na gets kinetic on one of seven covers for TIME magazine this week, as that publication touts its annual TIME 100 list. Li appears alongside the likes of politicians Gabrielle Giffords and Rand Paul, actress Jennifer Lawrence, and rapper/mogul Jay-Z (somewhere Zheng Jie dusts her shoulders off), Chris Evert herself penned the piece on Li for TIME, labeling her "a maverick" (nothing new) and saying that "like Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova before her, [she] has transcended her sport" (okay, that's fresh).
Here's that brief piece on Li by Evert, and here's the WTA's No. 5 player on the cover of the magazine. Roger Federer, Serena Williams, and more tennis stars have appeared on this list to date, for the record. And in truth, it seems this coverage of Li Na would have made more sense for the 2012 TIME 100 list, but then again, her global endorsement portfolio and earning power have only risen since then. Still, this was TIME, not Forbes or Money magazines. In the end, everyone involved with tennis and Chinese culture and Li's own team certainly considers this yet another victory.
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