Tennis: Li halts Kvitova’s bid for top spot
Chinese tennis star seals place in Sydney final after 3-set win.
SYDNEY:
China’s Li Na fought back from a set and a break down to delay Petra Kvitova’s bid for the world number one ranking in a tenacious semi-final victory at the Sydney International.
French Open champion Li recovered to down Wimbledon winner Kvitova 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours of high-class tennis to reach her second consecutive Sydney final where she will face third-seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. In doing so, world number five Li frustrated the Czech left-hander’s immediate hopes of toppling Caroline Wozniacki from the top of the women’s rankings ahead of next week’s Australian Open in Melbourne.
Kvitova, trailing Wozniacki by just 295 rankings points, would have claimed the number one ranking if she had won the Sydney tournament, with 470 points up for grabs to the winner.
“After the first set, I called my coach to the court and he told me that if I continued to play like I was I would lose the match easily,” said Li. “Like maybe after 50 minutes we can go to the airport. He said I had to believe in myself and do better. So I just tried to play deeper and try to play more of my best tennis.”
In the other semi-final, Azarenka fought back from a set down to beat Wozniacki’s victor from the quarters, Polish seventh-seed Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in almost two hours.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2012.
China’s Li Na fought back from a set and a break down to delay Petra Kvitova’s bid for the world number one ranking in a tenacious semi-final victory at the Sydney International.
French Open champion Li recovered to down Wimbledon winner Kvitova 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 in two hours of high-class tennis to reach her second consecutive Sydney final where she will face third-seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus. In doing so, world number five Li frustrated the Czech left-hander’s immediate hopes of toppling Caroline Wozniacki from the top of the women’s rankings ahead of next week’s Australian Open in Melbourne.
Kvitova, trailing Wozniacki by just 295 rankings points, would have claimed the number one ranking if she had won the Sydney tournament, with 470 points up for grabs to the winner.
“After the first set, I called my coach to the court and he told me that if I continued to play like I was I would lose the match easily,” said Li. “Like maybe after 50 minutes we can go to the airport. He said I had to believe in myself and do better. So I just tried to play deeper and try to play more of my best tennis.”
In the other semi-final, Azarenka fought back from a set down to beat Wozniacki’s victor from the quarters, Polish seventh-seed Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 in almost two hours.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 13th, 2012.