After a series of career threatening injuries and the loss of her head coach, Li Na's tennis career may be in jeopardy, said tennis great Martina Navratilova.

Navratilova continued by saying that Li's ability to withstand injuries was the critical question saying, "The body is the biggest issue for her, clearly, now."

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Earlier this year, the 33 year old player from China won the Australian Open in January. Her season began to take a dive as she was also sidelined by a knee injury.

While Navratilova believes that Li still has the ability to win a Grand Slam title, she questions if her body is capable of taking the toll of playing.

"When you get older you need to curb your schedule and not play as much," she says. "But when you play too little then you're not match-tough, and then you start losing early and then you need to play more tournaments to get matches."

"And then it really upsets your rhythm of getting ready, so it's tricky when you're getting older. You have to keep adapting."

Apart from her injuries, Li was also heavily affected by the loss of her tennis coach, Carlos Rodriguez. Rodriguez was the reason for the recent surge in Li's career.

After her career began to take a dive from the time she spent being coached with her husband, Rodriguez came in and helped her claim her second Grand Slam title at January's Australian Open.

This title helped Li rise to the No. 2 rank, the highest singles rank ever attained by an Asian player.

However, after only two years as her head coach, Rodriguez parted ways, citing his need to spend more time at the tennis academy he oversees at Beijing.

Li's injuries will keep her sidelined for the upcoming US Open. She will be expected to return at the Wuhan Open, in her home town, next month.

Tagsli na, martina navratilova