Li Na of China hits a return to Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia during their Qatar Open women’s tennis match in Doha, yesterday. Li Na won 6-1, 5-7, 6-2. RIGHT: Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium serves to Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. Wickmayer won 6-4, 7-5.
DOHA: Australian Open champion Li Na of China yesterday survived a mid-match scare to reach the third round of the $2.5m Qatar Open where third seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic showed the exit to tennis giant Venus Williams in three sets.
Na, 31, beat giant-killer Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 to remain unbeaten in 2014. The powerful baseliner, who won the Australian Open in Melbourne last month, was on court for 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Also yesterday, Kvitova braved a late rally from multiple Grand Slam champion Williams who even wasted a match point in the tie-breaker of the deciding set.
Kvitova, 23, won the three-setter 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (9-7) to remain on course for a semi-final clash against Li Na at the six-day event.
In another upset yesterday, Czech Republic’s Klara Zakopalova stunned seventh seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia despite losing the first set. Zakopalova won 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in 1 hours 42 minutes.
Also yesterday, sixth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany brushed aside Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in 92 minutes.
In other matches, Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova beat 12th seed Samantha Stosur of Austraila 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 while fifth seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia thrashed Italy’s Karin Knapp 6-0, 6-2
Earlier, top seed Li Na overcame a slight stutter in the second set to nail a place in the last 16 of the $2.5m event.
“Yes, I had a good start but she played really well in the second set,” Li Na said about her match. “The conditions were tough. It was cold, but I am still very confident,” the affable Chinese added after the marathon match that lasted more than two hours.
Li Na said she was eager to play more matches in the coming weeks and months to remain at the top.
“I want to remain confident and I can do that by playing more matches,” Na said.
Li Na fired on all cylinders at the start of the match, reeling off five games including two service breaks to jump to a 5-0 lead in the first set.
Rybarikova, however, halted the arrest by holding serve in game six but Li Na was not to be denied in game seven as the Chinese tennis powerhouse won the first set at 6-1.
In the second set, Rybarikova won the first two games to build momentum that allowed the Slovakian to break Li Na in games two, six and 13 to take the second set at 7-5.
Li Na later produced well-timed service breaks to take the third set and the match in 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Li Na admitted it was difficult to gauge the pace of the match.
“This is tennis. We (had to) play best‑of‑three set (to decide a winner),” the 2011 French Open champion said. “I knew that if I play more defense, (my) opponent will play more aggressive.
“So I was really happy in the end I win the match, because this was my first match after Australian Open,” LI Na said.
“I know I really, how do you say, I really wish I can do well, but I cannot put a lot of pressure on myself. This is a tennis game. Right now more important for me is to enjoy the tennis life,” she said when asked if she was under pressure in the match.
In an early afternoon start, fourth seed Sara Errani of Italy hammered Su-Wei Hseigh of Chinese Taipei in straight sets to become the first player to reach the round of 16.
Errani, 26, broke her inexperienced opponent three times in the first set to post a 6-0, 6-4 win in just 59 minutes. In another second-round clash, Russian wildcard Alisa Kleybanova eased past Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele 6-3, 6-2 in 74 minutes.
Meanwhile, Germany’s Annika Beck rallied from a set down to beat Bulgarian qualifier 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2 in 2 hours 16 minutes.
After her three-set upset win over Williams, Kvitova said she was happy to win her first match in Doha unlike when she lost in the opening round at the Australian Open.
“Yes, definitely,” Kvitova said when asked if her win over Williams would make up for her early exit at the Australian Open. “It was really quick in the first two sets. I played nothing really special but I had to fight in the third set.
“I am really glad that I came back in the third set,” the 2011 Wimbledon champion said.
In another match, Yanina Wickmayer stunned Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 7-5.
The Peninsula
