Li Na, the 2011 French Open champion, has hired Justin Henins former coach. (Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images)

MASON, Ohio Li Na, Sloane Stephens and Laura Robson all have new coaches. Heres the latest from the WTA coaching carousel

Li has hired Carlos Rodriguez on a trial basis. The 2011 French Open has been coached by her husband, Jiang Shan, since parting ways with Michael Mortensen last September.

Rodriguez served as Justine Henins coach for about 15 years, helping her win seven Grand Slam titles and spend 117 weeks at No. 1. He arrived here on Wednesday night and will join with Li for the first time for her third-round match against Johanna Larsson at the Western & Southern Open on Thursday night.

Thats good, because heres the thing: Theyve actually never met.

After Wimbledon, I texted my agent and said I need a new coach, Li said. Two weeks later, my agent said, Oh we have one coach. I said, Perfect, I need him.

Of course I know him. I was so surprised he also wanted to help me.

Rodriguez, who runs a tennis academy in Beijing, is fairly well-known in the Chinese coaching community, and Li reached out to other coaches to get their thoughts. She liked what she heard.

I asked many coaches and they said, Oh, hes a very positive person. He has good communication with the players. I need this right now, Li said.

While her season could be seen as a disappointment so far, especially in light of her breakthrough run last year at Roland Garros, Li has had solid results working with her husband. Other than a subpar patch from the French Open to the Olympics, the 30-year-old has consistently made it deep in tournaments and is not taking bad losses. She has reached three Premier finals (Sydney, Rome and Montreal), the Round of 16 at the Australian Open and the quarterfinals or better at seven of 12 tournaments.

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Li Na leads list of coaching changes