French Open 2012: Li Na back where the magic began After the French so many things came into my life that I had never experienced before. I lost concentration," she says. Now, she insists, she has got used to fame, and showed this in a run to the Rome final two weeks ago. At the beginning of this year I told myself that I am still a tennis player. Tennis is my job," she says, switching into a more serious mode. Following her Roland Garros triumph, Li signed seven deals with Babolat, Haagan-Daaz, Nike, Samsung and Mercedes, as well as multiple Chinese companies, each worth between £1.3 and £2.2 million annually. Raising her total endorsements figure to an estimated £26.7 million, Bloomberg announced her as the second-highest earning female athlete in the world, behind only Maria Sharapova. She has since been listed as No.87 on Forbes" list of the world's 100 most powerful celebrities. Li is already starting to think about what happens next, her plans to open a 'tennis ranch" in China to help young players achieve the same success she has - so she will no longer have to live with the label of being Asia's only grand slam winner. "In China every player has to play in their home city," she says. Some players don't want that but they can't find anywhere where they can practise. I think there are good players but they didn't have a chance to continue playing. Now aged 30 grand slam success came late to Li. She still describes herself as 'the old woman who had the dream that came true. It wasn't until she reached the Australian Open final in 2011, finally succumbing to Kim Clijsters 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 that the world woke up to her. Even in defeat she managed to make the audience laugh then when she described her fame by holding her thumb and index finger half an inch apart. But, she added: "Hopefully next time if I play final, I do better," then pausing for a moment, before nodding, "yeah" to loud applause. Li explains the change she had gone through between leaving Melbourne and arriving in Paris in 2011. Paris was not like Australia. There I got to the final so excited, and it was like 'oh, I'm in the final, I'm in the final," but I don't know what I should do." She wasn't confident on clay arriving in Paris that year, she just knew how to handle herself in the big matches. "I knew I could win a Grand Slam, but I think the French Open would have been my last choice," she admits. Nobody could believe that, but it happened. Before I won the tournament, I never won a point on clay. I don't know what happened. She does know really. She had tasted life at the top, and knew how to deal with it. Now she just has to deal with the public's fascination with her.