World No. 2 Li Na and her coach Carlos Rodriguez will no longer be working together, with Rodriguez saying his Chinese academy has asked him to return to Beijing.
''It was me who stopped,'' Rodriguez told Belgian press. ''Already, following the final of Miami, the [chief] of the academy, told me that she needed my presence there. Without me, at Potter's Wheel [academy], more and more player were hesitant to attend.
''I asked her to let me do these two Grand Slams with Li Na. Now, she has a little time to prepare for the Open.''
Rodriguez said he told the Australian Open champion following her third-round exit at Wimbledon. ''She wasn't expecting it,'' he said. ''She cried...but she eventually understood.''
Rodriguez has a contract with the academy for another two years. The former coach of Justine Henin had taken up a position at the academy following the Belgian No. 1's retirement and had been working with Li since 2012.
Li's agent, Max Eisenbud, told USA Today that the academy had priority in the arrangement.
''Basically we were renting him from the academy,'' he said. ''The academy just felt like he couldn't travel anymore.''
''I think it was a tough couple days for her,'' he added.
Since winning the Australian Open and following up with a semifinal at Indian Wells and final in Miami, Li's results have dropped. She lost in the first round of the French Open and in the third round of Wimbledon.
She is expected to look for another coach.