China's two-time Grand Slam winner Li Na gave birth to a girl, Alisa, on Wednesday.
Li Na, who retired in September, released the news early on Wednesday and posted a footprint picture of her daughter on her Chinese social networking site Weibo account, reports Xinhua.
Li Na's fans quipped that Alisa was born for tennis. June 3 is also the birthday of Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal.
Current Chinese tennis star Zheng Jie, a friend of Li Na, revealed that the young mother was in Beijing for the delivery.
"Everything was the same except for a big belly for her (Li Na) when I saw her last month before I departed for the French Open," said Zheng, who reached the French Open mixed doubles semi-final on Tuesday.
Li Na announced her retirement from tennis on September 19 last year. She said she will guide her child to take up sports, not necessarily tennis.
Li Na hopes her child can have a simple life.
"My husband and I both agree to support our child for the first 18 years. After that the child has to be independent financially," said Li.
