Semifinalist Li claims another first
Print Edition
Li Na, the first Chinese player to win a grand slam singles title, added another famous first to her collection when she reached the semifinals of the season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul with a 6-2, 6-1 rout of an ailing Victoria Azarenka yesterday.
It was the first time Li had qualified from the group stage of the tour's flagship tournament, and there was rarely any doubt that she would do so with a success which avenged her narrow defeat to the Belarusian at the Australian Open final in January.
Azarenka suffered a lower back injury in the sixth game and required three lots of treatment, which significantly impaired her movement. She did win one game with some ferocious serves, but mostly stayed in the middle of the baseline and tried to hit quick winners if the ball came her way.
However, Li had already been looking the sharper and more potent attacker, and had become the favorite to deliver her third win in three encounters and finish top of her group.
The result also ensured that Azarenka was eliminated and that Jelena Jankovic, the former world No. 1 from Serbia, qualifies from the White Group in second place.
Jankovic will face Serena Williams in today’s semifinals.
Li won the group 3-0, while Azarenka was 1-2. Italy’s Sara Errani was taking on Jankovic in the last group match later.
On Thursday, Williams crushed Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3 to complete her stroll through the Red Group, looking unbeatable in the process.
World No. 1 Williams, looking to retain her title, has won all three matches without a dropped set. The scenario in the group in terms of who joins Williams in the last four is a simple winner-take-all battle between Czech Kvitova and Germany’s Angelique Kerber.
Kerber beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2 to claim her first victory at the event, having lost all three matches in 2012.
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