China's Li Na, who made tennis history at this year's French Open by becoming the first Chinese Grand Slam singles title winner, has been honoured by her government - and awarded a $92,000 cheque. The government in Li's native Hubei province on Monday saluted the 29-year-old as a pioneer and handed her 600,000 yuan for her victory at Roland Garros last month, where she defeated Francesca Schiavone for the title.
"I truly feel that my success belongs not to myself but to the country," said Li, who pocketed a cool $1.65 million in prize money for taking the title, in comments reported Tuesday by the official Xinhua news agency.