Li sets up last-eight clash with Radwanska
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, January 21, 2013
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Li Na returns a ball to Julia Goerges during their women's singles match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Jan 20, 2013. |
Chinese star Li Na advanced to the Australian Open last eight yesterday, beating Julia Goerges in her quest to make a second final at Melbourne Park in three years.
Sixth seed Li beat the 18th-seeded German 7-6 (8), 6-1 and will next play fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska after the Pole despatched 13th-seeded Serb Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 6-4.
Li, who wants to crack the top three this year with the help of new coach Carlos Rodriguez, had never before faced Goerges, who was gunning for her first grand slam quarterfinal appearance.
And the Chinese star said the tight first-set tiebreaker was the turning point of the match.
"If I had lost the first set it could have been another story. I just kept going point by point, not thinking too much."
The pair began tentatively on Hisense Arena, trading serves until Li broke in the fourth game. She then went 4-1 up and looked to be cruising but the German made the most of some sloppy serving by the Chinese to break back.
The set went to serve and a tense tiebreaker, with the consistent Li prevailing after saving a set point and then reeling off three points in a row to take a one-set lead after 54 minutes.
The former French Open champion, who was beaten in the 2011 Australian Open final by Kim Clijsters, kept the pressure on by getting a break on the German's opening service game in the second set.
Goerges, who was playing Li for the first time, had no answers to Li's accurate baseline game and when she got broken again there was no way back, and the Chinese No. 1 romped home in 86 minutes.
But there was heartbreak for Kei Nishikori, the Japanese No. 1, who failed to match last year's run to the quarterfinals as he went down in straight sets to David Ferrer.
Nishikori, troubled by a knee injury, was outclassed 2-6, 1-6, 4-6 by dogged Spaniard Ferrer, the world No. 5, who reached the quarterfinals for the third year in a row.
For Nishikori, it was a disappointing outing after last year's run to the last eight, which went down as the best ever performance by a Japanese man.
"I tried to go aggressive, but I think I forced it too much," the world No. 18 said. "So I was missing too many (shots), making too many unforced errors. And also he was playing well. He didn't miss much, and he gets every ball."
Nishikori's defeat leaves Li as the last Asian player in the competition after Japan's Ayumi Morita and Kimiko Date-Krumm, 42, both went out on Saturday.
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