Li Na has become the first Chinese tennis player to win a grand slam singles title, winning the French Open in Paris.
Li beat last year's champion, Francesca Schiavone of Italy 6-4 7-6 in one hour and 48 minutes on Saturday.
They had met four times previously, with two wins apiece.
''I think at the end we were really close and it could be the set for me or for her. But at the end, she won. I think she deserved this final,'' said Schiavone.
Li, the sixth seed, earlier beat Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova en route to the final at Roland Garros.
She already had the distinction of being the first player from an Asian country to reach a grand slam singles final at the Australian Open in January. But she was beaten by Kim Clijsters of Belgium.
''Today is a dream come true. Some say I'm getting old, for an old woman for a dream to come true it's not easy,'' she said on Saturday.
''Big Sister''
Li, 29, from the port of Wuhan on the Yangzte river, is known as ''Big Sister Na'' and ''Golden Flower'' in China.
She returned to tennis in 2004 after leaving the game to study media at university.
Li decided earlier this year that she no longer wanted her husband as coach and hired Denmark Fed Cup captain Michael Mortensen.
''Can you tell the Chinese, 'don't teach me how to play tennis'?'', she asked the umpire at Melbourne when annoyed by the shouts of Chinese supporters during her match against Clijsters.
