Li Na squashes Ksenia Pervak to clear round one – Wimbledon Championships 2012
World number 11, Li Na, dumped the 21-year-old Kazakh starlet, Ksenia Pervak, in the opening round clash of the Wimbledon. She clasped straight sets triumph 6-3, 6-1 and booked a spot in the second round of the grass court Grand
Slam Championship on the eve of Monday.
The Chinese tennis ace started off with a serve hold and powered down her rival in the following game. She was leading 2-0 scores at that stage and a thumping serve hold to love made it a comprehensive 3-0 lead at the start.
Things were looking pretty ominous for the 41st ranked Kazakh who was under the cosh right from the start. She clinched her first serve hold in the following game; lowering the trail to 1-3. However, her rival reinstated
the lead of three games with another thunderous serve hold to love.
Both players swapped breakpoints in the following games to push the scores at 5-2. With no more drama, a serve hold at both ends concluded the opening set in favour of the Chinese superstar. It was obvious that Pervak was handed
a very tough draw having seen a classic performance from the Chinese number one in the previous editions of this tournament. However, the dismal score line was least expected.
The second set was more painful for Pervak. Her serve was broken in the second game and Li further pushed the scores to 3-0 in her favour. The 21-year-old Kazakh hardly managed a serve hold in the first four games of the set.
Nothing was going right for Pervak who failed to turn things around in her favour. Li broke her rival’s serve in the following game to take lead of 5-1 and coupled it with a serve hold to end the opening match in emphatic fashion.
It was a resounding triumph for the former French Open champion, who was greatly hurt to have failed in the fourth round of her title defence in Paris earlier this month.
It was the first encounter between the two players so Li now leads the head-to-head series by one nil. She will up against the Romanian beauty queen, Sorana Cirstea, in the second round.
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