Li edges resilient Errani in Istanbul opener
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E-mail China.org.cn, October 24, 2013
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Li Na rallied in a tough second set to finally get the best of Sara Errani in Istanbul. |
China's Li Na fended off a late rally from Sara Errani to start her campaign at the WTA Championships with a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory.
Li had never lost to Errani in five previous meetings, and had won the last 10 sets they had played as well, and that trend continued as she won a relatively routine first set.
Errani responded well at the start of the second and broke to lead 3-1 when Li double-faulted, but the Chinese player hit back with a run of four straight games.
Fourth-seeded Li had a chance to close out a routine win when she served for the match a 5-4 in the second set, but Errani overcame a match point to eventually force a tiebreaker.
The tie-break might have slipped away from Li as well. After losing five straight points from 1-3, Errani saved two more match points before her opponent finally took her fourth chance.
"The first match is always tough," Li said. "I think Sara was fighting a lot today. Even when I had a match point she was still fighting a lot on the court, so yeah, I was really happy to win this match."
Li joins Azarenka with one victory in the white group and will play her next match on Thursday, against No.7 seed Jelena Jankovic.
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