Li claims Wimbledon win, Venus sinks new Swiss miss

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-24 08:22

LONDON: China's Li Na eased into the second round at Wimbledon with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-0 victory against Kazakhstan's Galina Voskoboeva on Tuesday, while defending champion Venus Williams beat Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele 6-3, 6-2 to move on.

Li, the No 19 seed was taken to a tie break in the first set but her opponent, ranked 89 in the world, crumbled in the second to lose in an hour and 14 minutes on Court 6.

Li claims Wimbledon win, Venus sinks new Swiss miss

Li Na of China returns the ball to Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan during their match at the Wimbledon tennis championships, in London June 23, 2009. [Agencies]

The Chinese No 2 faces Belarussian Olga Govortsova, the world No 82, in the second round.

"Always in a grand slam it's not easy to play the first round. Every player is nervous and always fighting on the court," the 2006 Wimbledon quarterfinalist told AFP.

"I felt like I had a good start in the first set and after that I felt a little bit relaxed because I knew I could win this match.

"But then the opponent stood up. In the tie break I was 5-3 down and thinking, 'what's going on?' I thought, 'ok, come on, fighting every point'.

"After I won the first set I felt that I had to keep working and maybe she would be easy to give up.

"So I won the first, second and third game. She was shouting on the court in Russian, I thought 'what's going on, maybe she's angry - so keep working!'"

The 27-year-old began her campaign at the All England Club in confident mood, having made the final at Birmingham, the pre-Wimbledon grass court warm-up tournament.

But she retired hurt in the second round at Eastbourne with an abdominal strain.

Since then she has been undergoing physiotherapy and was pleased to come through her Wimbledon first round match pain-free.

Li beat Govortsova in the French Open third round this year, but will not be looking any further in the draw to see who else stands in her way.

"I don't want to see how the draw is going, just play the first round, second round and then see how far I can go on," she said.

Five-time champion Williams recovered from an early stumble in her opening match to beat Voegele.

"It is the best place to be when you are a pro tennis player and I savour every blade of it," said Williams. "I've had that crown for several years and I want to make it mine again."

But she shrugged off a suggestion that she should have won far more Grand Slam titles after getting her bid for a sixth Wimbledon singles crown off to a smooth start.

The American has been the dominant player of her generation on grass but has failed to translate her exceptional talent into similar success on other surfaces, as she had threatened to do when she won back-to-back US Open crowns in 2000 and 2001.

Now 29, and virtually a part-time player on the women's tour, Williams has not given up hope of claiming the Australian and French Open titles that have so far eluded her, although it does not appear to be an issue which causes her too much loss of sleep.

"If you'd pick one slam to win, it has got to be this one," she said. "I've been in a position to win the others but something happened - I ran into tough players in the final or whatever.

"Overall I have the game to put myself in a position to win in any of the majors so I just have to keep trying.

"But for me this has been a place of great success. There have been so many wins in singles and doubles, it is a place of pure joy."

In other matches, Kimiko Date Krumm, the 38-year-old Japanese who last played here in 1996, took the first set off Danish ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki but slipped to a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 defeat.

The Japanese player, making a comeback this year, reached the semifinals in 1996 and when she made her debut in 1989, Wozniacki was still a year away from being born.

Date Krumm, 20 years older than the blonde Dane, needed extensive medical treatment on her injured thigh as the marathon first round tie took its toll.

Jelena Dokic, who made her career breakthrough here in 1999 when she defeated top seed Martina Hingis, before her professional and private life went into a spiral, also needed medical attention.

The 26-year-old Australian took the first set off German qualifier Tatjana Malek before losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Dokic complained of feeling dizzy at the end of the second set and had her blood pressure taken at courtside.

Malek goes on to tackle Australian 18th seed, and French Open semifinalist, Samantha Stosur.

Also progressing in the women's draw was Serbian sixth seed Jelena Jankovic who defeated Germany's Julia Goerges 6-4, 7-6 (7/0) and she will face the Czech Republic's Iveta Benesova who saw off Britain's Katie O'Brien.

AFP