Li Na devastates Silvia Soler-Espinosa in the second round battle – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
World number eight, Li Na, overwhelmed the 60th ranked Spanish wildcard contender, Silvia Soler-Espinosa, in the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday. The Chinese number one required just 64 minutes to wrap
up her emphatic victory in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, to reach the round of 16 at the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event being played in Madrid, Spain.
The eighth seeded Chinese ace had no troubles at all playing on the new blue clay surface and took limited time in getting under the skin of her bleak opponent. The 30-year-old faced some sloppy resistance in the opening set from
Soler-Espinosa but her aggressive game play, backed up by a rock solid defence, was far too good for her to overcome. Li defeated the Spaniard in her last year’s dream run at the Roland Garros French Open. She outplayed Soler-Espinosa, 6-4, 7-5, in the round
of 64 and then went on to win her maiden Grand Slam championship title last summer.
The Chinese eighth seed banged in seven cracking aces and won 23 out of 31 first serve points en route to victory. Li crafted 10 break opportunities in the contest and converted half of them to drive Soler-Espinosa out of the tournament
with authority. The bleak Spaniard registered lone break points in the entire matchup to finish on the losing side in the end. A total of 97 points were played in the contest, with the Chinese veteran winning 59 and her opponent lagging behind at 38.
The eighth seed Chinese is yet to bag a championship title this WTA season and her impactful victories in the initial rounds depict that the top Chinese contender is eyeing gold at Mutua Madrid Open. Li is now 17-6 in the running
year and will next face the 12th seed German, Angelique Kerber, to fight for a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Kerber registered a stunning victory in the second round, when she defeated the former world number one, Venus Williams,
in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, to book a date with the eighth seed Chinese.
Fifth seed Samantha Stosur of Australia also won her second round battle against the American teenager, Christina McHale, 2-6, 6-4, 6-0, on Monday. Unseeded Czech contender, Petra Cetkovska, was the last one to make it through
to the third round of the Madrid Open on the second day’s play. She was successful against Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino in straight sets, 6-4, 7-5.
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