Li Na tops Flipkens in Madrid opener
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, May 6, 2014
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Li returns a shot during a Madrid Open tennis tournament match against Kirsten Flipkens in Madrid, Spain, Monday, May 5, 2014. |
China's Australian Open champion Li Na avoided a repeat of her first round exit at the Madrid Open last year with a 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) win over Belgian Kirsten Flipkens yesterday.
The world number two raced through the opening set, but had to save two set points in the second before closing out the match in a tie-break.
"I knew it would never be an easy match," said Li.
Next up for Li is a meeting with compatriot Zheng Jie. "We know each other well so I'm sure it will be tough," Li said.
Number three seed Agnieszka Radwanska from Poland sealed her place in the last 32 with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-2 win over Australian Open semi-finalist Eugenie Bouchard of Canada.
After a tight opening set, Radwanska took complete control of the second set to set up a second round clash with Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova or French player Alize Cornet.
On the men's side, Japan's Kei Nishikori followed up his Barcelona Open victory last week with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Croat Ivan Dodig to face Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
Australian Open finalist Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia became the first seed to fall yesterday, beaten 6-3, 6-0 by 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur of Australia.
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