Li rebuffs Peng to claim Shenzhen crown
Print Edition
Top-seeded Li Na defended her Shenzhen Open title yesterday by defeating Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-5 in only the second all-Chinese final on the WTA Tour.
Li, Asia’s lone grand slam singles champion, captured her eighth career WTA title and first since Shenzhen last year. Peng is now winless in six finals.
Li overcame a stuttering start before completing her first successful title defense on the women’s tour in an hour and 49 minutes.
Trailing 3-4, Li bagged seven of the next eight games to move 6-4, 4-1 ahead before fifth-seeded Peng resisted, winning four in a row to lead 5-4 in the second set.
Former French Open champion Li responded by winning the next three games to claim the title.
The No. 3-ranked Li is hoping to build momentum heading into the Australian Open where she has reached the final in two of the last three years. She lost to Victoria Azarenka in last year’s final and fell to Kim Clijsters in 2011.
Li retired against Zheng Jie in the only other WTA Tour final featuring two Chinese players at the Estoril Open in 2006.
In New Zealand, Venus Williams fell short in her attempt to capture her first title in more than a year, losing to Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 in the final of the Auckland Classic yesterday.
Second-seeded Ivanovic looked headed for a routine victory in the matchup between former world No. 1s, winning the first set in 35 minutes and holding match point at 5-3 in the second. But Williams fought back to break Ivanovic twice and force a deciding set.
Williams opened the third set with two double faults to drop serve, however, and played under pressure the remainder of the match. She held two break points in the final game before Ivanovic won four straight points to close out the match.
“It was very tough,” Ivanovic said. “Venus showed again what a great sport she is in what she’s done today and over all these years.”
Williams was playing in her first final since winning her 44th career title at Luxembourg in October 2012. The seven-time grand slam champion’s ranking has fallen to 47th as she has battled injuries and a fatigue-causing autoimmune disease over the past two years.
Williams had an 8-1 record against Ivanovic heading into the match, with the Serb’s only win coming at the 2008 Australian Open.
“She played so well. We’ve played a lot of great matches and this is another one,” Williams said. “I just kept fighting despite the odds. She was playing so well.”
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