100m watch Li Na tower over Francesca Schiavone

More than 100 million people were estimated to have tuned in to see Li Na become the first Asian player to win a grand slam singles title on Saturday. Despite having never won a clay-court tournament before, the 29-year-old Chinese player beat Italian Francesca Schiavone 6-4 7-6 (7/0) in the final of the women's singles at the French Open.

Li has been at the forefront of China's modest success in women's tennis in recent years, reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2006 and then the semi-finals at the Australian Open last year. But it is this season she has really positioned herself as a major force, losing to Kim Clijsters in the Australian Open final prior to Saturday's brilliant win on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Her path to the top has not been straightforward. In 2002, Li quit tennis to study journalism at university before returning two years later, while for the past three years she has been playing outside China's official tennis programme after marrying coach Jiang Shan.

In April, following a poor run of results, she ditched Jiang and began working with Dane Michael Mortensen instead. A record of 14 wins and two defeats from three tournaments suggests the decision was the right one.

Discussing her break from tennis, Li said: "Before my ranking was always over 120 and I was always playing in small tournaments. It was no challenge, so that is why I said I should stop and go to university to learn a different way.

"But I didn't want my career in tennis to end like that so I had to change myself a little bit. After two years, I thought it was the time to come back."

Li has a good record at Wimbledon, reaching the last eight in 2006 and 2010, and, in what is expected to be another open tournament, she will surely fancy her chances. And it will not be until after the Championships that she will be able to go home to China to celebrate her historic win.

She added: "I will go back after Wimbledon. If I don't do well at Wimbledon, maybe people will have forgotten me already. These are tough times you know! I think right now is the best time for me because I can enjoy it with my team. After Melbourne, when I went back to China many people came up to me. Now I can just enjoy it and try to focus on Wimbledon."

Li began the final better, hitting the ball cleanly and confidently, and after missing a chance to break in the opening game, she pounced to move 4-3 ahead.The Chinese woman was also serving superbly, making 77 per cent of first serves throughout the match, and there were no wobbles as she closed out the opening set.

Li broke again to gain an advantage in the second and Schiavone was having to battle hard to avoid getting blown away by her more powerful opponent.

In successive games the Italian saved break points, and she got her reward at 4-3 when Li's forehand suddenly cracked and her opponent levelled. Schiavone now had hope and she piled on the pressure, knowing Li had never been as close to a grand slam title. The crucial point came with the 29-year-old serving at 5-6 and deuce.

A shot from Li was called out, which would have given Schiavone a set point, but umpire Louise Engzell over-ruled after inspecting the mark to the obvious disbelief of the defending champion.

Schiavone did not win another point as Li raced through the tie-break, clinching victory when her opponent, who had earned the wrath of the Roland Garros crowd by daring to challenge calls, fired a backhand long.

"When I was a young player, I wanted be a grand slam champion. People were saying I'm getting old. So this is a dream come true for an old woman," said Li. "It wasn't easy. At 6-0 in the tie-break I was thinking, 'Okay, don't do a stupid thing.' Because I have had many match points before without winning the match. Of course it is exciting. Not so many players can win grand slams."

On the hysteria back home, Li said: "China has never had a grand slam champion so that's why in China so many players are working so hard. Because the dream is they can be the top player or win a grand slam. I got a text message from my friend. They said people were crying in China because they saw the national flag going up. I think if you are Chinese, everyone was excited."

Schiavone said afterwards that she appreciates last year's French Open triumph even more after experiencing the other side of the coin at the weekend. "The impact of winning, there's a big difference when you lose," said the Italian after failing to defend her title. "But I'm happy to be here because now I can feel much more what I did last year.

"To be close to winning is very different to actually winning. But, at the same time, getting to the final again meant that I had the chance to take the trophy. There are a lot of emotions."

Even Schiavone appreciated the impact Li's victory will have had back in China and she is hopeful that more Chinese players are now minded to give clay-court tennis a go. She added: "I can imagine many Chinese people were watching. I think it's important also for them to know about clay over there. I think they play mostly just on hard courts. This can be a good start for them."