Li, Serena move into third round
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, January 16, 2014
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Li Na hits a forehand to Belinda Bencic yesterday at the Australian Open in Melbourne. Li won in straight sets to earn a third-round match against No. 26 Lucie Safarova. |
World No. 4 Li Na had to draw on all her experience to get past 16-year-old qualifier Belinda Bencic 6-0, 7-6 (5) yesterday at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Li prevailed in a hard fought second set and compared Bencic, who won the Wimbledon and French Open junior titles last year, to Martina Hingis.
"She played exactly like Martina Hingis, I feel," Li said.
Bencic joined the tennis school of Hingis's mother Melanie Molitor, at age four and also gets occasional tips from Hingis, who coaches Sabine Lisicki.
"She won the juniors, so she has experience, she's used to playing on the big courts," said Li regarding Bencic. "If she plays more tournaments on the tour, for sure she will be very good."
Li, known for her cheeky banter and light-hearted humor with the English-language media, didn't disappoint yesterday.
Asked at a news conference whether playing someone half her age made her feel old, Li cracked, "No, I think I'm (youngest) in this room, right?"
As for her retirement plans, they're on hold.
"I cannot promise I will play another three or four years," Li said. "But if I'm still feeling healthy, I still love this sport, I will continue."
Li will play No. 26 Lucie Safarova in the third round.
Also, China's Zheng Jie defeated American Madison Keys 7-6 (5), 1-6, 7-5.
World No. 1 Serena Williams advanced with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Vesna Dolonc.
Williams fended off the only break point she faced with an ace, one of her 10 in the match. She hit 24 winners, sticking to the ideal strategy of keeping the points short on a hot day.
She said didn't even go outside Tuesday because conditions "were a little bit extreme," adding that the prospect of the scorching temperatures had even interrupted her sleep.
"I kept waking up in the middle of the night last night just paranoid. I just wanted to stay hydrated," she said. "The last thing I want to do is to cramp in this weather. It can happen so easy."
Williams next meets No. 31-seeded Daniela Hantuchova, who was on court for 3 hours, 13 minutes in her 6-3, 3-6, 12-10 win over Karolina Pliskova.
No. 9 Angelique Kerber advanced to a match against American Alison Riske, who trounced Yanina Wickmayer 6-1, 6-1. Australian wild-card entry Casey Dellacqua upset No. 18 Kirsten Flipkens 6-3, 6-0. No. 30 Eugenie Bouchard of Canada defeated Virginie Razzano of France 6-2, 7-6 (10).
Monica Niculescu defeated No. 15-seeded Lisicki 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 and will next play No. 22 Ekaterina Makarova, who followed up her first-round win over Venus Williams with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over American Irina Falconi.
No. 28 Flavia Pennetta beat Monica Puig in straight sets to set up a third-round match against Mona Barthel, a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum.
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