China's Li Na Announces Retirement from Tennis

China's two time Grand Slam champion Li Na announced her retirement from tennis Friday. Li cited recurring knee injuries as the reason for her decision.

"The task of finally making a decision to hang up my racquet felt a lot more difficult than winning seven matches in a row in the Australian heat," Li said in a letter posted on her Facebook page.

"It took me several agonizing months to finally come to the decision that my chronic injuries will never again let me be the tennis player that I can be.

"Walking away from the sport, effective immediately, is the right decision for me and my family," Li said, reports Reuters.

Li, who is Asia's only Grand Slam singles champion, won the 2011 French Open and the Australian Open this year.

Li had done three operations on her right knee in 2008.  She also had to do a surgery on her left knee in July this year.

Li said that after recouping from the surgery, she went through all the needed steps to get back on the court.

However, she said that this time it felt different unlike in the past, reports the Associated Press.

Elaborating further, Li said that one of her goals was to recover as fast as possible to play in the first WTA tournament in Wuhan, her hometown.  However, her body reminded her that at the age of 32, she will not be able to play at the top level again. She added that tennis is very competitive and the sport demands 100 percent from a player, reports AP.

"Meanwhile tributes to Li's achievement have started to pour in with top players posting notes to her on their social media accounts.  Former World Number 1  Caroline Wozniacki wrote: "Li Na, one of the funniest and nicest players on tour! A great competitor and a role model both on and off the court! You will be missed!! An exciting new chapter starts today!"

 Women's Tennis Association (WTA) chief executive Stacey Allaster said: "I am sad to hear that she has retired. In addition to her amazing tennis abilities and her warm and humorous personality, she is a pioneer who opened doors to tennis for hundreds of millions of people throughout China and Asia. Her legacy is immense and I have no doubt that her contributions to the WTA will be seen for decades to come," Allaster said.

"It's hard to be a household name in a nation with 1.4 billion people, but that's what Li Na is," she aded, reports BBC.