Chapter 15 Chapter Eleven Comeback

Before 2004, I felt that I had no goals, and I was blindly following the trend. Except for being with Jiang Shan, which was my own decision, I was conforming to other people's expectations of me.Especially during the period from 1999 to 2002 when I entered the national team for the first time, my condition was very bad, because I had high expectations for freedom, but the national team had many rules, and everyone bowed to the coach and obeyed his orders. From.No one made a move to resist, and they didn't even dare to have such an idea.Of course, this is not a personal reason, it should be a cultural and institutional issue.

In the two years of college, I straightened out my thoughts.My understanding of tennis has also changed a lot compared to the past.Playing with new ideas is also very different. People really should read more books. I don’t read much, but this is my heartfelt emotion. When I first came back to play, people would say "This is Li Na" at most, and then shut up.When other people hear it, they just say: "Oh, she's back." In fact, you are not that important.Retiring or coming back is a very important decision for yourself, but it is an insignificant matter for the outside world.It made me feel very relaxed, and I said to myself, don't put too much pressure, you don't have that many audiences, just do your best.

The first event after the comeback was a 25,000 ITF (International Tennis Federation), which was a small game. After returning to this circle after two years, everything I see is familiar, but everything feels strange.At that time, we played ITF games at Yuting Bridge, with four or five courts next to each other. After leaving the court, there were two glass rooms for resting and watching games, and you can also watch upstairs.There is no locker room in that venue. After the event, you have to take your clothes to the bathroom to change, and then wait for the game to start. In comparison, the conditions of the WTA competition venues are a little better.Lounges are generally large and can accommodate at least 100 people.In the locker room, everyone has their own number locker.The conference organizing committee has therapists, you can ask them to help you with physical therapy.The therapists for female players are generally men, and many of them appoint their own therapists. A familiar therapist will understand your physical condition better and will help you pay attention during treatment.

Usually only athletes are allowed in the locker room.Most of the athletes in this circle know each other. If they will be opponents on the field the next day, good friends will say hello in the locker room on the first day: "Let's play together tomorrow." Don’t know your opponents—like many newcomers come out now, I don’t know these newcomers at all. A few days before the game, I will check the information on the Internet and write down the opponent’s characteristics.You can also observe your opponents in the locker room before the game. Many excellent players have very personalities.For example, Sharapova's aura is very strong, and that kind of arrogance that catches people's head can really calm down opponents at times. After getting to know her better, I realized that her arrogance is not aimed at anyone. That's how she is. temper.

I just came back and I have no points, so I have to start from the qualifying round.Jiang Shan was with me all the time. When we both went to practice on the first day, I saw the No. 1 seed in the locker room. At that time, the girl's world ranking was 180.I remember that girl seemed to be Portuguese, a little younger than me.I couldn't help but say something to Jiang Shan like "Why does this person rank so high", "Looks really good", and so on.Jiang Shan didn't say anything, just sat and watched other people's training, and came back after watching it, and told me very firmly that "(she) is not on the same level as you."

I said, "How is that possible?" At that time, I came back after retiring for two years and lacked understanding of the new situation. 180 was already a very high ranking in my heart.It’s easy for me to lose confidence, especially when I first came back. I saw a lot of young rookies, and some players from the Hubei team who were familiar with me told me that so-and-so played so well.I have been away from this circle for two years, and I don't know much about the current domestic overall level, and I am not sure where I am now, and I feel that I am not sure.But at that time, I was very tolerant of my own mentality, thinking that I should do my best, and I can be as good as I can be.

I played a total of three preliminaries before the main match, and all three were unusually smooth.At this time, another situation happened. I am a person who is not good at decompressing myself. The first three preliminaries went well because I didn’t have any demands on myself at this time, I didn’t know what to do, and I didn’t have a strong desire to win. I just regarded it as training on the training ground.When he entered the main match, he suddenly realized that he really wanted to win and had to win.It's like a monkey picking peaches. At first it just picks one for fun, but then it feels like the tree is mine.This heartache was stuck in his chest, which caused a lot of psychological hints to himself.In the last round of the preliminaries, I suffered a small injury on my back. For us professional athletes, this small injury is nothing. They all hurt so bad, and seeing that the main draw was about to start, I just felt like a heavy hammer was hitting my back, and the pain was so painful that I couldn't even sleep at night.

The qi and blood were not smooth, and the old disease of endocrine disorder was brought on, so I had to go to the doctor of the Beijing team immediately. Girls know what it feels like to have an endocrine disorder. The soreness and dullness, coupled with the pain in my back, made me worry about my competitive state.On the day of the first round of the main election, I felt sick all the time, which caused the doctor to follow me around.After we arrived on the field, the referee kept looking at me. He thought I must abstain, and even filled out the abstention form for me. I told him that if I don't abstain, I can still play.

It turned out to be a pretty good game. Heart disease still needs heart medicine. It may be that with the smooth progress of the game, the knot in the heart has gradually opened up, and the burden of thinking has also been let go.The onset was acute this time, and it came and went quickly. By the time I entered the top four, the pain on my back was almost gone. Jiang Shan has been with me to reach the top four, and then he ran out of leave and had to go back to Wuhan for classes.At this time, I already had a general understanding of the situation of myself and my opponent, and my mentality returned to the relaxed state during the qualifiers.After entering the top four, I met the No. 1 seed from Portugal, the girl Jiang Shan asserted was "not on the same level" as me.

I won that match relatively easily.After the game, I called Jiang Shan: "I won, straight sets, 6:4, 6:0." He said calmly: "Oh, 6:4, 6:0 won, okay, got it." I don't believe everything Jiang Shan says.We often joke around, and I can only tell if he's serious or joking depending on where he talks.Before, I always thought that he said that the No. 1 seed and I were "not at the same level" to comfort me, so I couldn't take it seriously.I didn't believe he was telling the truth until after the final. Winning the first game of my comeback is very helpful for me to recover my mentality, and there are still four games in a row.These four races are next to each other. The first race is in Beijing, the second is in Tongliao, the third is in Ulanhot, and the fourth is back in Beijing.When I participated in the first game in Beijing, I played a total of eight games including three preliminaries.According to competition practice, I, who did not have a world ranking at the time, should continue to play from the preliminaries in the last three competitions.However, because I won the championship in the first competition, according to ITF regulations, I got a pass, and I can play directly from the main selection in the next competition.In the second game in Tongliao, he won another championship.

There are also many interesting episodes.The first two games were hard courts. In the third game, the organizer said in the fax sent to the contestants that it was a red ground, but everyone went to have a look and found that it was a gray sandy ground.This made many foreign athletes very angry and felt that they had been cheated. Their team leaders went to the head referee to hold a meeting and asked to change the venue. If they did not change, they would withdraw from the game.They also found me and advised me to strike together.From their point of view, you, Li Na, won the championship in the first two competitions, and you are a native Chinese player, so you should have a great say.In fact, my position at the moment is more embarrassing than anyone else.I am not a person who can speak eloquently. What I say makes sense but seems unreasonable. The tradition of our country is "don't make trouble for the superiors."I was so embarrassed that I had to tell people that I had to train and it was best for you to come forward and resolve this matter. In addition to the "red land" replaced by gray sand that disappointed foreign players, the backward hotel facilities also caused them headaches.The local hotel does not allow credit cards, and you have to pay cash for a cup of coffee. The waiters stare at the players to chase the money, which makes it very unreasonable for foreign players who are accustomed to using credit cards when traveling.In addition, the wind in Ulanhot is very strong, and the outdoor sand court is often full of yellow sand, making training and competition very difficult.We asked the waiter of the hotel how many times the wind blows here in a year, and the waiter answered very well: "It blows twice a year, once in the first half of the year, and once in the second half of the year." This means that the wind here may take half a year to stop. After the two winds blow, it happens that this year will be over.Everyone laughed. Under the harsh natural conditions, many players either withdrew from the competition, or participated reluctantly and did not try their best. The organizer also saw that all the players would run out, so they had to find another indoor hard court as the competition venue. What touched me was that before the start of the third game, my coach said to me: "Li Na, you played two games in a row recently, it was too hard, and the fourth game was bigger than the previous three games. Adjust it here." The so-called adjustment is to go to the grassland to play for a day.Our group, including the team leader, coach, team doctor, and two young members of the Hubei team, rode to a grassland near Ulanhot.I don't know how to ride a horse, and after a day of jolting on horseback, I felt like I was about to be jolted to death.But the scenery on the prairie is really beautiful, although it is a bit upside down, it really feels relaxing. This grassland is about an hour's "horse journey" from our station.The local people are very enthusiastic. We enjoyed the traditional Mongolian dance in the yurt, and then came out to ride horses and shoot arrows. We had a great time.In the evening, they entertained us to eat roasted whole lamb. That was the first time I saw a whole lamb being served with all its beard and tail, and even the head of the lamb was poked there. I was taken aback.The host was so enthusiastic, he kept asking us to eat more, and served us kumiss.The kumiss has a bit of a fishy taste to it, and I'm not used to it, but I think it's someone else's kindness, and we should at least try it. After a while, a lot of local people came in the yurt, leading everyone to sing and dance, and someone told me about the history of the Mongolian people, praising their heroic ancestor Genghis Khan.By the time we returned to the hotel from the grassland, it was already past 11 o'clock in the evening.I was very happy and excited that day, and I sang a lot.I still remember that when I walked out of the yurt, I saw an empty space between the sky and the earth, the endless grassland beyond the horizon, and the sky full of bright stars hanging low on the sky, as if I could reach it with my hands.At that time, I suddenly woke up for a moment, thinking to myself, the victory or defeat of a few games is nothing, they will never become obstacles on my way forward. In this way, I played the last two games very relaxed.After four races, I won four championships.The media said that "Li Na is making a strong comeback", which is actually a bit exaggerated.It is not difficult to win four championships in a row, because many players have retired.Although some did not retire, in order to protect themselves from injury, they did not try their best during the game. But these four championships allowed me to build confidence in myself, which is the most important thing. In less than a month after these four tournaments, I have a world ranking, probably fluctuating around 182.Now I am starting to hesitate again, whether to continue studying or return to the familiar golf course.Because the original purpose of my comeback was to help the Hubei Provincial Team play in the National Games, but so far, my competition results have been very good. On the one hand, I am still eager to finish my four-year university studies, so that my impetuous heart can calm down. To be an ordinary person; on the other hand, I feel that the prospect of my career is very promising, and I should be able to make it out.