Li Fang (tennis)

Li Fang (Chinese: 李芳; pinyin: Lǐ Fāng, born 1 January 1973) is a retired female tennis player from China. She is widely regarded as the first professional tennis player from China.^{[citation needed]}

In this Chinese name, the family name is Li.

Li Fang

Country (sports)	China
Residence	Hunan
Born	(1973-01-01) 1 January 1973 (age 52) Hengyang (Hunan Province)
Height	1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)
Turned pro	1990
Retired	2001
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$535,067
Singles
Career record	265–133
Career titles	0 WTA, 18 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 36 (8 June 1998)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	3R (1992)
French Open	2R (1994)
Wimbledon	2R (1994)
US Open	2R (1999)
Doubles
Career record	86–62
Career titles	2 WTA, 8 ITF
Highest ranking	No. 49 (21 February 1994)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (1992)
French Open	1R (1992)
Wimbledon	1R (1992)
US Open	2R (1992)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	20–13

Li turned professional in 1990, and won two WTA doubles titles in her career. In singles, Li Fang reached three finals on the WTA tour (Hobart 1995, Makarska and Pattaya in 1998), losing all of them. She represented her country at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Li played seven years on the China Fed Cup team. She retired in 2001.

Personal

Li Fang was born in Hengyang in Hunan province to father Li Jianmin and mother Zhou Shanglian. As of 2014, Li Fang runs a tennis academy in Frisco, Texas.

WTA Tour career finals

Legend
Tier I (0)
Tier II (0)
Tier III (1)
Tier IV (4)

Singles: 3 runner-up

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1.	Jan 1995	Hobart International	Hard	Leila Meskhi	2–6, 3–6
Loss	2.	Apr 1998	Makarska International Championships	Clay	Květa Hrdličková	3–6, 1–6
Loss	3.	Nov 1998	PTT Pattaya Open	Hard	Julie Halard-Decugis	1–6, 2–6

Doubles: 2 titles

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	Jul 1993	Austrian Open, Kitzbühel	Clay	Dominique Monami	Maja Murić Pavlína Rajzlová	6–2, 6–1
Win	2.	Feb 1994	China Open, Beijing	Hard (i)	Chen Li-Ling	Kerry-Anne Guse Valda Lake	6–0, 6–2

ITF finals

Singles (18–6)

$75,000 tournaments

$50,000 tournaments

$25,000 tournaments

$10,000 tournaments

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1.	12 March 1990	Murcia, Spain	Clay	Sabrina Lucchi	6–2, 7–5
Win	2.	9 July 1990	Fayetteville, United States	Hard	Im Sook-ja	6–1, 1–6, 6–3
Loss	3.	4 March 1991	Granada, Spain	Clay	Isabel Cueto	3–6, 3–6
Loss	4.	11 March 1991	Murcia, Spain	Hard	Maite Martínez	6–7, 7–5, 3–6
Win	5.	25 March 1991	Bilbao, Spain	Hard	Estefania Bottini	6–3, 6–1
Loss	6.	29 April 1991	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Hard	Wang Shi-ting	4–6, 2–6
Win	7.	29 July 1991	Acireale, Italy	Clay	Jana Pospíšilová	6–0, 7–5
Win	8.	5 August 1991	Nicolosi, Italy	Hard	Kylie Johnson	6–2, 6–4
Win	9.	2 September 1991	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard	Tang Min	7–5, 6–2
Win	10.	9 September 1991	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard	Tang Min	6–0, 7–6(8–6)
Win	11.	23 September 1991	Kuroshio, Japan	Hard	Naoko Kijimuta	6–3, 6–4
Win	12.	7 October 1991	Matsuyama, Japan	Hard	Chen Li-Ling	6–4, 6–3
Win	13.	14 October 1991	Kyoto, Japan	Hard	Hiromi Yoshihara	7–6(7–3), 6–4
Win	14.	21 October 1991	Oita, Japan	Hard	Kristine Kunce	6–3, 6–0
Loss	15.	28 October 1991	Saga, Japan	Grass	Ei Iida	3–6, 3–6
Win	16.	6 April 1997	Phoenix, United States	Hard	Kristina Brandi	6–1, 6–2
Win	17.	20 April 1997	Wichita, United States	Hard	Sandra Cacic	6–2, 6–2
Win	18.	6 July 1997	Flushing, United States	Hard	Lindsay Lee-Waters	7–5, 7–5
Win	19.	4 August 1997	Wichita, United States	Hard	Laura Golarsa	6–3, 6–2
Loss	20.	13 July 1998	Mahwah, United States	Hard	Amy Frazier	w/o
Win	21.	21 June 1999	Vaihingen, Germany	Clay	Patricia Wartusch	6–4, 7–6
Loss	22.	1 August 1999	Salt Lake City, United States	Hard	Kristina Brandi	4–6, 3–6
Win	23.	19 September 1999	Hopewel, United States	Hard	Jana Nejedly	6–0, 6–4
Win	24.	26 September 1999	Kirkland, United States	Hard	Yi Jing-Qian	6–3, 2–6, 6–1

Doubles (8–5)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1.	7 May 1990	Manila, Philippines	Hard	Chen Li-Ling	Lin Ning Tang Min	6–3, 6–0
Win	2.	29 April 1991	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Hard	Tang Min	Tanti Trayono Agustina Wibisono	7–5, 6–3
Win	3.	6 May 1991	Manila, Philippines	Hard	Tang Min	Irawati Moerid Lukky Tedjamukti	7–6(7–4), 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–3)
Win	4.	5 August 1991	Nicolosi, Italy	Hard	Tang Min	Gabriella Boschiero Kylie Johnson	6–0, 7–6(7–3)
Win	5.	2 September 1991	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard	Tang Min	Suvimol Duangchan Benjamas Sangaram	6–4, 6–2
Loss	6.	9 September 1991	Bangkok, Thailand	Hard	Tang Min	Irawati Moerid Lukky Tedjamukti	6–4, 5–7, 4–6
Loss	7.	23 September 1991	Kuroshio, Japan	Hard	Tang Min	Naoko Kinoshita Emiko Takahashi	7–5, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	8.	30 September 1991	Hokkaido, Japan	Hard	Tang Min	Yukie Koizumi Miki Mizokuchi	1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	9.	14 October 1991	Kyoto, Japan	Hard	Tang Min	Diana Gardner Paulette Moreno	6–4, 7–5
Loss	10.	30 September 1991	Saga, Japan	Grass	Tang Min	Lupita Novelo Kristine Kunce	7–5, 2–6, 5–7
Win	11.	4 September 1995	Tianjin, China	Hard	Chen Li-Ling	Kirstin Freye Tessa Price	6–2, 6–3
Loss	12.	6 July 1997	Flushing, United States	Hard	Keri Phebus	Janet Lee Lindsay Lee-Waters	2–6, 6–2, 3–6
Win	13.	19 September 1999	Hopewel, United States	Hard	Alina Jidkova	Dawn Buth Kim Grant	6–3, 6–3

See also

• Tennis in China