WTA Championships: Li Na stays alive; Angelique Kerber signs out

By Magdalena Stanislav

Li Na keeps her chances alive at WTA Championships

ISTANBUL, Turkey (TheSportsNEXT) October 25, 2012:Li Na of China get off the mark in the WTA Championships on Thursday when she outpaced Angelique Kerber of Germany in straight sets by 6-4 6-3 to stay alive in the competition.

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Li Na can still qualify for the semi-finals of the year-ending TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships but she will have to not only win her final round-robin match but also wait for the other results.

End of the Road for
Angelique Kerber at
WTA Championships

After falling miserably to Serena Williams in her first match of the competition, Li Na showed glimpses of her top game which took her to French Open title last year.

After trailing Angelique Kerber 4-2 in the first set, Li Na smashed back into form and won nine of the next 10 games to surge to 6-4 5-1 lead but the German ace still had some energy and fight left in her as she reduced the lead to 5-3 in the second set before the Chinese putting together another perfect service game to seal the deal at 6-3 with the help of a ferocious ace.

The match lasted for an hour and 25 minutes where Li Na hit her fourth love hold in 10 service games.

Talking to reporters after her victory, Li Na said, “I had my first match yesterday but felt much, much better today - I was more focused and concentrated on the court. Angelique is very good in defense. My coach, Carlos, was telling me before the match to use more topspin and open the court - I knew I had to change the space to win today."

With this victory, Li Na has improved her head-to-head record against Angelique Kerber to 6-1. Li Na mostly enjoys playing against the lefties as compared to righties and some of her biggest victories have come against the players who predominantly use left hand.

During last five years, Li Na has won 34 matches against the lefties as against only five defeats which came to Sybille Bammer (Rome in 2009), Petra Kvitova (Madrid in 2011), Kerber (Indian Wells in 2012), Kvitova again (Montréal in 2012) and Laura Robson (US Open in 2012). Moreover, Li Na was able to push three of these five losses down to the wire.

Angelique Kerber, who was featuring in the year-ending event for the first time, signed out of the WTA Championships after her third straight loss but she had some positives to mention when she told reporters, “It was very nice to be here - I really enjoyed my week and also my three matches. I take a lot of experience from here and I think it will bring me to another level next year, so I'm really happy I was part of the WTA Championships. And the organization and the crowd were unbelievable”.