In 1974, Olga Morozova reached the final in consecutive grand slam events, the French Open and Wimbledon. Russians previously were not known for their mastery of tennis or even any interest in it but, apparently, some parents back in the Soviet Union took note of Morozova's success; a generation later Russians surged into the ranks of elite women's players.
If Li Na's victory in the French Open, the first by an Asian in a grand slam event, sparks a similar wave of enthusiasm for the game, we can perhaps expect a flood of elite Chinese players along about 2030.
Tennis is a simple game to play but an expensive one to master, without government support.
China may now be encouraged to give more aid to tennis starlets, and its increasingly affluent population may also be willing to pay for years of coaching at the Bollettieri Academy, or its like.
"Throughout China's history people knew nothing of tennis. Now we're standing on the summit of the world game," Zhang Yueming, the general manager of the Green Bank Tennis Club in Beijing told the Associated Press.
Paradorn Srichaphan, a Thai who reached No 9 in the men's rankings in 2003, said: "I'm sure that a lot of Chinese kids will play tennis more because of Li Na."
Curiously, China's sports ministers, who focus almost entirely on the Olympics (as frustrated football fans can attest), put Li's victory in the context of London 2012.
"There is no doubt this will encourage and inspire Chinese athletes in other fields to undergo hard training, strengthen their confidence and make excellent achievements in the London 2012 Olympics," China's Olympic Committee said in a letter.
Those revelling in Li's victory seem centred in Pacific Rim nations. If India and its 1.2 billion people took heart from Li at Roland Garros, we have not heard.
China's communist government still sees tennis as a bourgeois activity, but one of their own lifting a cup could change some minds.
Li is not alone in the world, as Morozova was in 1974. Compatriot Peng Shuai is ranked No 20, and Zhang Jie and Zhang Shuai are in the final 25 of the top 100. They clearly are competent, but none has the look of a future No 1.
That world-beating Chinese girl is probably about three years old at the moment, and has just been handed a racket.
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
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Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
