Seeded Li Na loses to qualifier Monica Niculescu in 1st round – China Open 2011
French Open Champion Li Na was humiliated in front of home fans on Sunday the 2nd of October 2011, as she crashed out in the opening round of the China Open 2011 to unheralded Romanian qualifier Monica Niculescu. After battling
on outdoor hard courts of the National Tennis Center in Beijing, China for one hour and twenty one minutes, Niculescu won in straight sets of 6-4, 6-0 and put the world number six Na to shame.
Li opened the first round of the match after winning the service toss and as she served, she double faulted in the second serve and endorsed the game to Niculescu. However, Li was not going to go that easily and broke back immediately
in the next game and both the players were placed on the scoreboard at 1-1.
However, Niculescu put in extra effort and again capitalized on a break point and by holding her serve in the fourth game rolled the scoreboard to 3-1. The Chinese again gave a break point opportunity to the Romaine qualifier and
as she availed the chance, she bagged another game on her opponent’s serve and by the end of the sixth game Niculescu was leading with 5-1.
Although Na made a comeback in the seventh game by utilizing the serve-break-serve method, she reduced the deficit to 4-5 by the ninth game. As the serve switched in the tenth game, Niculescu was now serving for the opening set
and as she smashed a back hand shot down the line, she bagged the opening set with a 6-4 victory.
Opening the second set was again Li and even though her home crowd supported her all the way, she was still unable to hold her first game. While, Niculescu was on a roll and her confidence had boosted her performance. The Romaine
not only won a game off of her adversary but as expertly held serve she was leading with a mini lead of 2-0.
The Romaine dominated the second set from the very beginning and in the remaining games she not only held her serve but also broke her adversary in all her service games. By doing so Niculescu hacked away a bagel set victory over
the fourth seeded Na.
The Chinese super star (Li Na) was unable to win a single game against the Romaine qualifier in the second set and in the first was falling behind 5-1 but eventually reduced the deficit to 4-5.
The 24 year-old Romaine ecstatically said “was playing her for the first time; before this I just saw her matches on TV. I was thinking 'Okay, she's Top 5; it's not going to be easy, even if I play well.' But I played my best and
I did it."
Up next for Niculescu is Chanelle Scheepers in the second round of the event.
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