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Li Na, Djokovic advance at Indian Wells

Updated: 2014-03-12 15:58 (Agencies)
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Li Na, Djokovic advance at Indian Wells

Li Na of China celebrates after defeating Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada 6-1, 6-4 in a match at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, March 11, 2014. [Photo/icpress.cn]

Normal service resumed at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Tuesday when Australian Open champion Li Na moved into the women's quarterfinals and Novak Djokovic safely booked his place in the fourth round of the men's draw.

The Chinese Li, promoted to the women's top seed after winning the Australian Open and in the absence of Serena Williams, beat Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1 6-4 but only after a extraordinary final game where she struggled to close out the match.

Li raced through the opening set in just over half an hour then recovered from 3-0 down to serve for the match at 5-4 when she suddenly got the wobbles.

The final game lasted 20 minutes as Li squandered 10 match points and took her tally of double-faults for the match to nine before she finally sealed the win.

"I only can say: Welcome to the crazy women's tennis tour," she told the crowd in a courtside interview.

In other women's draw, Serbia's Jelena Jankovic ended her five-match losing streak to Denmark's Carolina Wozniacki when she reeled off 10 consecutive games to win 6-3 6-1 and advance to the quarterfinals.

"At 3-1, I kind of found my way, found my rhythm, and I was striking the ball very well out there and took control of the points," said Jankovic.

"I just did not let her play what she plays. That was very important. So I was pretty pleased with the way I played and how composed I stayed throughout the whole match."

Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska, the second seed, breezed past Alize Cornet of France 7-5 6-3 while Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova brushed aside the challenge of Petra Kvitova, beating the Czech 6-3 6-2.

Italian qualifier Camila Giorgi came back to Earth with a thud when she was thrashed 6-2 6-1 by compatriot Flavia Pennetta less than 24 hours after she stunned Sharapova.

Romania's Simona Halep qualified for the last eight with a hard-fought 6-2 1-6 6-4 win over Canada's Eugenie Bouchard after trailling 4-3 in the deciding set.

"It wasn't my best tennis today, but I was fighting a lot," said Halep, ranked seventh in the world. "I did well. I think I came back in the third set very well."

Halep's next match will be against Australian qualifier Casey Dellacqua, who got a walkover to the quarterfinals after her American Lauren Davis retired with gastrointestinal illness.

 

Li Na, Djokovic advance at Indian Wells

 

Li Na, Djokovic advance at Indian Wells

 

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