Zvonareva beats Li to enter China Open final
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Russian second seed Vera Zvonareva dispatched local 9th seed Li Na 6-3, 6-3 to reach the final of China Open, a 4.5-million-U.S. dollar WTA premier mandatory event, in Beijing on Saturday.
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It was a repeat of the 2008 Olympic bronze medal play-off, which Zvonareva won with two straight sets in the Lotus court.
The 4th-ranked Zvonareva showed a strong form in the on-going tournament, smashing French Open titlist Francesca Schiavone 6-0, 6-2 on a Friday's quarterfinal clash. When taking on the 28-year-old local favorite, the second seed continued her furious vigour and enjoyed a flying start after breaking Li in the very first game.
Li, the world No. 15, did not want to concede a quick defeat in front of the jubilant local crowds, but the 9th seed could match the Russian's aggressiveness and handed Zvonareva another break in the seventh game. Although Li managed to narrow the gap in the following game with a break, a crucial double fault in the 9th game cost her the first set in 6-3.
The Chinese tried to fight back in the second set and grabbed an early break. But Li seemed to have trouble saving her own services as the semifinalist in Australian Open was broken for another three times in the later games.
Li had been struggling with unforced errors throughout the one hour, 12 minutes match and shot out a baseline hit on match points to hand a comfortable victory to Zvonareva.
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