Li Na overcomes Chanelle Scheepers to book a quarter-final berth – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
Last year’s French Open winner, Li Na of China, rallied past Chanelle Scheepers of South Africa in the third round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday. The reigning world number nine battled for one hour and 34 minutes
before settling the final score line at 7-6(3), 6-2, to earn a berth in the quarter-finals of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier 5 event.
Being played on the outdoor clay courts of Rome, Italy, the contest witnessed the top ranked Chinese cruising her way to her 20th victory of the running circuit. The 30-year-old veteran faced some early resistance from
Scheepers in the matchup but manoeuvred through the opener with guile to get hold of the momentum. Once getting into her winning groove, Li blasted her way through the second set to conclude her thumping victory in a convincing manner.
Li’s first serve accuracy touched 80 per cent mark in the contest and she clinched 31 out of 45 points on it to come out as the winner. The unseeded South African registered two out of four break points in the matchup, while suffering
four out of six cracking ones from the Grand Slam winner. The Chinese number one won 18 out of 40 return points on Scheepers’ serve and kept belting assertive winners on regular occasions. A total of 115 points were played in the contest, with Li winning 67
of them and Scheepers lagging behind with 48 points to finish on the losing side in the end.
It was the third encounter between these two contenders and the first one on the red clay surface. Li sustained her clean sheet against the South African, whom she had defeated in the season-opening WTA event, Apia International
Sydney, earlier this year. The ninth ranked Chinese now leads 3-0 over Scheepers in the all-time head-to-head series and carries on her voyage to claim the coveted championship title in Rome.
Li will next face the 14th seed Slovak contender, Dominika Cibulkova, in the quarter-final battle of the Rome Masters on Friday. Cibulkova got through to the quarter-final draw after her third round opponent, the world
number one, Victoria Azarenka, pulled out of the competition due to a shoulder injury, providing her a walkover in the round of eight.
The second seed Russian, Maria Sharapova, fourth seed Czech contender Petra Kvitova, former Grand Slam winners the Williams Sisters, were the other big names making into the round of eight in Rome.
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