Okay. Hold the angry emails. It doesn’t say that Na Li is inscrutable because she is Oriental, does it? Maybe it’s because she wears a visor. Or because she likes “crisps” (potato chips). Or because she’s kind of cute when she scowls. But the fact is, this is one poker-faced, cool-headed, firm-handed, literal-minded, much-smarter-than-she-looks-or-lets-on cookie. And today she was within the width of a 16-gauge gut string of pushing Kim Clijsters to three sets in their Wimbledon quarterfinal.
Li has done an excellent job here of pleading “no comprendo” to questions in English This, BTW, is entirely unlike Rafael Nadal, whose most disarming quality is the gusto with which he wades into the English language, loses his footing, starts flailing his arms (this flailing is thinly disguised with a Kalashnikov-grade burst of “No? No? No?”) and, just as he starts sinking to the bottom, turns to his interpreter for help.
And guess who smoked her out, albeit in the most gentlemanly way - drum roll please: TennisWorld’s Spiritual Advisor, Miguel Seabra.
Bear in mind that Mikey knows Li as well as any western press pariah, because of his close ties with the Estoril Open, where Li was a finalist just a few months ago. In fact, Mikey wrote an interesting post (China Dolls) on the Estoril women’s final for TW. It was about how the Chinese women probably were prevailed upon by their official, government handlers to quit the final at set a piece because they had a plane to catch.
Incidentally, only now does the full, serious nature of that bit of alleged collusion hit me. In many sports, that would be grounds for an investigation, but. . .let's leave that for another time.
Anyway, about halfway through Li’s post-match presser, Mikey asked her, in a very friendly way: “When are you going to start answering questions by yourself, without a translator.”
Li colored, turned to the translator/interpreter, and said something that was translated as: “It’s not really a good idea.”
Let’s ignore the sinister, mind control implications in this (maybe the Chinese government doesn’t want her speaking English!). Whether that’s the case or not, the translator gives Li another convenient shield behind which to duck, thereby increasing the quality – is it unknowablity? Intimidating reticence? Disconcerting aloofness? – that has traditionally been such a powerful weapon in the locker room (look under “G” for Graf, or “C” for Jimmy Connors, who had a long and incredibly prosperous career during which he managed – I’ll never understand how this could happen - to forge not a single friendship with a peer).
You want inscrutable? Check out these exchanges with Li, from her presser following Monday’s win over Nicole Vaidisova:
*Q. Why did you think you won today, and why the sudden turnaround?
NA LI: There was no solution for any match before the match finished.
Q. Why did you win today? What was the reason that you won today?
NA LI: There is no reason for winning a match.
Q. Was it because of your serve or because she fell apart, that you were concentrating better? There are reasons why you beat somebody.
NA LI: I don't know how to answer your question.*
Great. The heir to Samuel Beckett turns out to be a 5-7, turnip-shaped but tough-as-nails Chinese female tennis player. Jean Genet is rolling in his grave, laughing! What am I talking about?
Oh yeah.
Anyway, I didn’t see much of Li yesterday, as I’m boycotting leggy blondes who have vast commercial appeal during this tournament. But after catching that pleasantly surreal presser, I made sure to watch her match today with Champagne Kimmy Clijsters.
Li lost the first set, 6-4. But a few games in, I got the feeling that I was watching a player who’s a lot better than a quick take suggests. She’s thickly built, with a low center of gravity. Her strokes are extremely clean and minimal in a way that made me think of Tracy Austin and Chris Evert. She is among that really select group of players who are so mobile that you may not even realize it, because she’s always seems to be waiting for the ball, racquet back, and you really have to be paying attention to even catch yourself wondering: Hey! How did she get there?
The stroke production out of Li is extremely clean; combined with her economy of movement, this imbues her game with an aura formality. This radiance of discipline can be construed as a weakness of sorts (not to mention as an open door to any number of cliches about the flowering of the Asian work ethic in the competitive western environment). More importantly, studied players (think Maria Sharapova) always leave something to be desired. But then Li departs from that norm with her fine touch and her game generally shows glimmerings of creativity, if not exactly spontaneity.
Li put this intriguing blend of attributes to good use in the second set, and she played with striking poise and confidence. Ultimately, she made enough forehand placements and penetrating backhands that she had Clijsters on her heels. Li built a 5-2 second-set lead, and we saw what she was made of when she served for the set at 5-3.
Li fell behind 0-30, clubbed a pair of service winners to get square, but then made a forced backhand error at set point, off a very solid Clijsters forehand deep at the baseline. She was broken two points later, but the most important thing about the game was that she made no dumb errors and she certainly didn’t choke. I’d score that service game a B-plus, even though she lost it.
She fought on, too, but an energized Clijsters held and then broke Li for the match. In the presser, I remarked on Li’s self-possession and asked if she was nervous before the match, to which she answered: “Actually, I was very nervous, I think for this level of match, everyone will be very nervous.”
Sure, but the difference is that other players experiencing those nerves would go out and hit balls into the Rolex sign, or the Duchess of Kent’s hair (actually, a ball would probably bounce off her hair, which resembles a medium-range, titanium shrouded warhead). Not the inscrutable one, though. She went down firing bullets.
What a find. This girl is going to be fun to watch and to get to know, except that we’ll never get to know her, right?
Well, let’s hold on for a moment here. About six questions after Mikey asked her when she was going to start speaking directly to the media in English, he asked her if she would be getting a special bonus from Chinese officials for getting to the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
She looked him square in the eye and said, in English: “No. If you pay me, yes. If you can give something I can get. . .”
Her voice trailed off, She probably realized she wasn’t being sufficiently inscrutable!