Chinese tennis player Li Na's life story to become a film

CANNES: Chinese filmmaker Peter Ho-Sun Chan is making a movie about Li Na, the country's biggest tennis star.

Chan's production company We Pictures said in a statement Saturday that the film will be based on Li's autobiography "Li Na: My Life" and will be released in 2016.

Li is one of China's best known athletes and became the first Asian tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament when she captured the French Open in 2011.

Chan says "Li Na had an impossible dream and found a way to turn it into reality. She broke rules and defied conventions and, against all odds, became a legend."

Li says "I am honored to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tell my life story through a film."