Li Na stopped out of Wimbledon semis
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-07-05 09:27
LONDON, July 4 -- China's first-ever Wimbledon quarter-finalist Li Na failed
to go further in her Wimbledon campaign, losing to Kim Clijsters 6-4, 7-5 here
on Tuesday.
Li seemed to be in trouble in the early rallies and lost her opening serve,
double faulting twice, as tension gripped her game.
"To be frank, I was very nervous at the very start, " Li said after the
match, saying that it's natural to be nervous in such a big event.
But she demonstrated her power of recovery in the second game when a striking
backhand service return hit cross court gave her two break points.
Clijsters, despite a huge advantage in Grand Slam experience, had to work
unusually hard to forge a victory over 24-year-old Li, the 27th seed.
Clijsters dealt with them efficiently and secured a break of serve in the
fifth game.
Two games later Clijsters decided that a lob from Li was heading out and she
let the ball go, only to see it land plumb in the corner. At least Clijsters saw
the funny side and put her head in her hands in laughter.
Clijsters won the first set after 36 minutes and opened up a 2-0 lead in the
second before Li began a counter-attack which saw her win five games in a row
before Clijsters could salvage a game.
Li's best opportunity of taking a set came in the next game when a missed lob
by Clijsters gave the Chinese player set point.
But a strong return by the Belgian drew an error from Li. Let off the hook,
the second seed didn't look back, reeling off five games in succession to take
the match on her second opportunity.
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