Li ousts Keys, Murray through
Print Edition
WORLD No. 2 Li Na made her first appearance at the Miami Masters on Sunday, taming Madison Keys in an unsteady effort while three-time champion Venus Williams was also made to work under a blazing Florida sun for her spot in the fourth round.
Li displayed some signs of rust in her first match after receiving an opening round bye and a walkover when Alisa Kleybanova withdrew from their second round meeting with illness.
She had to fight off three set points and an early break in the second set before clinching a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win over her American opponent.
Venus, seeded 29th at the tournament she considers her home event, battled Casey Dellacqua for almost two and a half hours before subduing the determined Australian wildcard 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.
Third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland registered a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Russian Elena Vesnina.
Keys had Li Na on the ropes several times but allowed the experienced Li to escape time-and-time again. “She’s No. 2 in the world for a reason. She just won the Australian Open for a reason,” said Keys. “She’s a great player.
“I played well at times and she just played the bigger points really, really well.
“There is a lot to be happy with but there is also some stuff I need to work on.”
Li grabbed an early break and raced to a 3-1 lead, but the big hitting Keys answered with two breaks of her own, surging in front 5-3.
Keys, however, could not convert any of her three set points as Li wiggled free with a break and forcing a tiebreak which she easily won 7-3.
The American again had Li under pressure in the second, grabbing the early break to go up 2-0, but could not sustain the pressure as Li, having now hit her stride, stormed through the next five games on her way to victory.
“I think it was pretty tough match, she played well, big serve, big forehand, especially when she was 3-1 down and then come back 5-3 up and serve for the first set,” said Li. “During that time I didn’t think about too much.
“I say, OK try to hit the ball, try to do what you have to do and save the set point.
“I think this maybe changed the match a little bit because after that I was feeling she’s dropped a little bit.”
Also, Andy Murray advanced to the fourth round by beating Feliciano Lopez 6-4, 6-1. Roger Federer also advanced easily, beating qualifier Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-3. Murray’s next opponent will be No. 11-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who outlasted Marcos Baghdatis 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5.
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