Beijing: China's national tennis federation has admitted bending its own rules banning romantic relationships in an effort to ease pressure on Li Na, a top medal hope for the 2008 Olympic Games. Sport and romance are kept at arms length by China's state-funded sports administration, whch demands that competitors focus exclusively on their sport.

National team members have been dismissed in the past for romantic involvements with fellow team members.

However an exception has been made for Li, 24, the world No.16 who has been allowed to appoint her own husband as coach, according to the China Daily.

The newspaper said husband Jiang Shan had achieved little of note as a player and had no coaching experience at all.

Sun Jinfang, the head of the federation, was quoted as saying that she had agreed to the move in order to ease the pressure on Li ahead of the 2008 Games.

"I simply wanted her to feel better on the intense WTA tour, so we did something hardly seen before in China's sports history," Sun said.

Last year, China's tennis federation rejected an overture from Michael Chang, the former French Open winner, who offered to coach Li and other women players in the run up to the Olympics.

Li rose to prominence last year when she reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. Sun Tiantian and Li Ting won the women's doubles gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Li's Wimbledon performance was the best singles record by a Chinese player at a grand slam tournament.

The downside for Li, criticised in the past for her hot temper and alleged mental weakness, is that she is now bearing the brunt of China's expectations for a Olympic tennis gold medal in Beijing next year.

Last week she showed signs of cracking at a tennis tournament in Tokyo when she spoke of the "unrealistic goal" of winning a medal at the 2008 games.

"I understand Li and I know she is under heavy pressure," said Sun.

"I know players are human beings and I understand the feelings when the whole nation is watching you and expecting a lot from you, because I was also a professional athlete some years ago," he said.