Li Na packs off Lisicki to stay on course for home success
Print Edition
Li Na’s bid to claim her first major tournament on home soil remained on course yesterday as she progressed to the quarterfinals of the China Open after defeating Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki.
The home crowd favorite dumped out her German opponent 7-5, 6-4 in a cool-headed display of efficiency at a packed National Tennis Centre in Beijing.
The world No. 5 drew loud applause within the first five minutes after she broke Lisicki’s serve with the first game of the match.
Lisicki broke back to level the scores at 5-5, but Li powered ahead and took the decisive final two games, with her coach Carlos Rodriguez signalling at her from the stands to maintain her mental strength.
A Mexican wave began as Li won the set. When she broke Lisicki’s serve on the fifth game of the second set, the result never looked in doubt as the 2011 French Open winner closed in on victory.
In the quarterfinals, the fourth seed will face Czech Petra Kvitova, who defeated Italian Sara Errani 6-4, 6-7(7/3), 6-3 in their third-round match.
World No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska also powered her way through to the last 16 yesterday. The Polish third seed took one hour and 15 minutes to claim a 6-3, 6-2 victory over the 18-year-old, who is being tipped as one of the rising stars of women’s tennis.
Radwanska, a winner in Beijing in 2011, had defeated Keys at Wimbledon in the summer, and praised her opponent.
“I think she’s one of the youngest talented players coming out,” she told reporters. “I think in a couple of years we are going to see her more often, definitely.”
Elsewhere, Andrea Petkovic continued her stunning form at the tournament by dumping out former Roland Garros winner Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in her second-round match.
The German, who is ranked 43 in the world, took just over two hours to claim victory over the 25th-ranked Russian, a previous winner in Beijing in 2006 and 2009.
Petkovic’s victory over the 2009 French Open singles champion follows her stunning first-round defeat of second seed and current Beijing champion Victoria Azarenka.
Elsewhere, eighth seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia booked her place in the last 16 with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Kazakhstan’s Galina Voskoboeva, and Slovenia’s Polona Hercog defeated 14th seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4.
In the men’s event, eighth-seed American John Isner beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, and Australia’s former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt suffered a crushing 0-6, 2-6 defeat at the hands of Fabio Fognini.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
