Li, Serena sail through in Beijing
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E-mail China.org.cn, September 29, 2013
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China's Li Na returns the ball to Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia en route to her 6-0, 6-4 first-round victory at the China Open in Beijing. |
Home favourite Li Na dropped only four games in blowing away Daniela Hantuchova in the opening game of China Open.
The 2011 French Open winner- now ranked No 5 in the world-beat her Slovak opponent 6-0, 6-4 in 85 minutes to cruise into the second round of China Open in Beijing.
Li opened her bid for the biggest title on home soil in stunning fashion by winning every game in the first set against Hantuchova, much to the enjoyment of her fans at Beijing's National Tennis Centre.
But the 31-year-old had to overcome a late surge from her Slovakian opponent which sent jitters through the home crowd.
Hantuchova did not get on the scoreboard until the hour mark, with the 2011 French Open singles champion cruising at 4-0 in the second set and seemingly in command.
The 30-year-old, who has beaten Li four times in their previous six meetings, then staged an impressive comeback until Li regained her composure to seal the victory.
Joining Li in the second round is world number one Serena Williams. The 2004 China Open champion was barely troubled by her Russian opponent Elena Vesnina, needing only one hour and 25 minutes to wrap up the opening round win 6-4, 6-2.
Another former champion, Agnieszka Radwanska, battled for more than two hours to make it past Stefanie Voegele 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Elsewhere, Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic pulled off a 7-5, 6-3 upset over No.15 seed and former US Open winner Samantha Stosur of Australia, and Maria Kirilenko of Russia battled through Chinese Zheng Jie to also make it into second round.
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