Na Li halts Angelique Kerber in the third round – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Eight seed, Na Li, showed exceptional skills to outsmart the German star, Angelique Kerber, in straight sets at the Mutua Madrid Open 2012 on Wednesday. She joggled up a 7-5, 6-4 victory against the world number 14 to book a spot in the quarter-finals at
this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event held in Spain.
The Chinese number one toppled Kerber, not only taking revenge from her loss at Indian Wells earlier this circuit but also to extend her lead in their head-to-head series by 4-1. Li sought 12 break opportunities in this encounter and capitalised on three
of them to earn the glory.
The 30-year-old assertively entered Park Manzanares and held her opening serve to take the initial lead. She then continued hitting powerful forehands to swipe in her following serves with poise. Li got the breakthrough in the last game after capitalising
on one out of five break opportunities and bagged the opener with a 7-5 success.
Li lost her track towards the proceeding set and suffered the first blow in the opening game to fall at 0-2. However, she stayed calm and recovered in the sixth game. The Chinese not only plucked remaining serves but cashed in another break opportunity in
the last game to click the set with a 6-4 score line.
Overall, the veteran jolted down a better first serve share of 77 per cent as opposed to her opponent’s 63 per cent and impressively availed 37 out of 49 points on it. She also fended off two out of three breakpoints she faced and ended the match with 74
points.
The world number one, Victoria Azarenka, awaits the Chinese in the final eight. She ousted the 13th seed, Ana Ivanovic, in almost one and a half-hour long marathon to set-up this clash. The Belarusian was trailing in the opening set but rebounded
to pull out the victory in their fourth meeting.
The fifth seed, Samantha Stosur, will also be joining Li in the quarters. She stomped over Czech Republic’s Petra Cetkovska in straight sets in 72 minutes. The Aussie also broke her rival’s serve four times and fired five aces to conquer.
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