TENNIS – Li Na advanced to her very first semi-final in the Sony Open of Miami after defeating Caroline Wozniacki with a double 7-5. The Australian Open champion played a very inconstant match, decided more by the errors than by the winners of the players. Giulio Gasparin
Li Na advanced to her very first semi-final in the Sony Open of Miami after defeating Caroline Wozniacki with a double 7-5.
The Australian Open champion played a very inconstant match, decided more by the errors than by the winners of the players.
Wozniacki, who had lost only two games in the previous two matches, started well on her serve and immediately had a few chances to break the Chinese. However, Li found a way out of this tricky game and went on breaking the Dane twice to set a 4-1 lead.
The former world number one finally found better depth and her defence improved forcing Li to go for more in order to win a point, and eventually miss.
The Dane replied with a four game streak to go up 5-4, but on 15-30 behind the Chinese’s serve she missed a not too difficult volley and that seemed to set Li right back on track.
The second seed fought back once again, breaking Wozniacki from 30-0, as errors started creeping into the game of the Dane. Li then rushed to close the first set with a love hold.
The second set was largely dominated by solid holds from both players, even though Wozniacki called the trained a received medical treatments for some back pain, which clearly was affecting her evening.
Nonetheless, it was the former world number one to break the pattern and her opponent’s serve in the eighth game. Li surely missed too many balls, but like in the case of the third point of the game, often the Dane forced Li to play an extra ball, even when the point looked done and dusted.
Wozniacki could not exploit the momentum though and despite having given no chances for a break in the set, she got broken on 5-3, when serving for the set.
The 10th game was even more decisive in the outcome of the set, Wozniacki let an argue with the umpire distract her focus from the tennis, despite her rant being fully comprehensible –the umpire made an over-rule, later proved wrong by hawk-eye, on a deep backhand from the Dane, which had set her on a winning position for the rally.
Li went on holding the serve, while the nerves of the Dane made her game plan collapse: errors crept in like at the end of first set and in no time she got broken again. Once more Li found an easy hold, this time to win the match.
The Chinese will now play Dominika Cibulkova for the third time already this season, with both the precedents won by Li.
For Wozniacki it will still remain a positive tournament, especially given the lack of results in this 2014, but the match highlighted once more all her technical flaws and, contrary to what made her world number one for a couple of seasons, there seems to be little mental strength to compensate for them.
