Li Na thrashes Nadia Petrova to reach round three – China Open 2012
Winner of the last week’s Toray Pan Pacific Open, Nadia Petrova, lost the first clash at the China Open; falling victim to a cracking onslaught from the eighth ranked Chinese star, Li Na. The 30-year-old local reaches the third
round of the contest with commanding straight sets victory; registering the score line of 6-1, 6-1, in just 79 minutes.
Both players were tested by their rivals in the opening serve games but each of them survived the scare early on to keep the scores together. The local superstar bagged the following serve game with ease and made it 2-1 in her
favour. Petrova was put under pressure in the following game that featured seven deuces before the Chinese grabbed the first breakpoint of the match. It was a classic turnaround that wasn’t expected at such an early stage of the match.
Li made no mistake on spinning the opening set in her favour. She protected the breakpoint with a magnificent serve hold and pushed the lead further to 4-1. The Russian age-fellow looked a bit worn out from the length of the last
week tour of Tokyo and couldn’t even win a single point on her serve in the sixth game.
Just one point for Petrova in the final game and Li was away to a set lead; leaving just a breadstick for the 14th ranked Russian superstar. Trailing a set down, Petrova commenced the second set in the most dismal fashion.
She failed to win a single point on her serve. Soon, the scores were pushed to 4-0 courtesy another breakthrough coupled with two brilliant serve holds.
Li was under the cosh during the sixth game of the set. She survived eight deuces but couldn’t stop her opponent from winning the breakpoint that lowered the trail to 2-4. However, there was little time spent by the seventh seed
Chinese star in ousting her foe as she gusted away to yet another breakpoint in the following return game that reinstated her lead.
The third round berth was secured by Li with a serve hold. She will play her compatriot Shuai Peng for a place in the quarters.
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