Li Na battles into last 8 at Rogers Cup
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 9, 2013
China's Li Na secured a last 8 place at the Rogers Cup Thursday after a thrilling comeback win (3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (5)) over Serbia's Ana Ivanovic.
The 4th seed rallied back from 2-5 down in the deciding set to win the clash of two former French Open winners.
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Li Na during her match against Ana Ivanovic at Rexall Centre at York University on August 8, 2013 in Toronto. |
2008 French Open champion Ivanovic, seeded 16th at the WTA Premier 5 event, put up a good fight but ultimately lost her steam with nine double faults in the entire match.
It's the first time the pair have met since 2006 in Berlin, when Ivanovic surrendered the match due to an injury after a 6-1 win in the set.
Li, who will face the winner of the match between Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova and Italy's Roberta Vinci, lagged behind in the first set with a series of unforced errors, ultimately losing it 6- 3.
"Before the match I was thinking it was tough match, but I was a little bit surprised, because first set she was play more aggressive," Li revealed after the match. "I was feeling even at first I didn't have time to prepare my game plan."
"Second set, I tried to hit more back to the court to see if I had chance to turn the match," she added.
Li Na bounced back strongly in the second set and won 6-1 to force the match into a deciding set.
"If I wait for her unforced errors to win a point, maybe she just 'boom, boom, boom,' win all the time," said Li. "Also because Carlos (Li Na's coach) is not here, but I still got email from him, so he say if I need win the match I have to think about what I should do, so I don't have to care what the opponent do.
"In the whole match I was thinking I have to hit the ball, you couldn't wait," she said.
Ivanovic regained her confidence on the court in the third set, taking a 3-0 lead. But Li launched an impressive comeback as she broke even with Ivanovic at 5-5, and then won the set, driving the match into a tie-break.
Li went up 3-0 before Ivanovic fought back to level the score at 5 apiece. Li then held her composure to win the next two points and nailed down the victory.
"If I play a little bit soft, she will attack a lot, it doesn 't mean I played bad match, I was really happy the way I play," said Li. "Today, I was play pretty good, especially in the final set when I was come back even in the tie-break."
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