China’s Li Na cruised into the Australian Open’s third round yesterday to maintain hopes of a first Asian Grand Slam singles title, as Japan’s Kei Nishikori also progressed.
Ninth-seeded Li downed Russia’s Evgeniya Rodina 6-3, 6-2 to stay on track, while Japanese idol Nishikori beat Florian Mayer of Germany in four sets. China’s Peng Shuai will play her second match today.
The 28-year-old Li is riding a wave of confidence after shocking favorite Kim Clijsters in the Sydney International final earlier this month and following her run to last year’s Australian Open semis.
Photo: Reuters
“I won last week, so maybe I feel more confident. I just hope I’ll continue to take this confidence and see how far away I can go,” she said.
Li, who beat Sophie Arvidsson of Sweden in straight sets in the first round before accounting for Rodina yesterday, added she still had room to improve.
“I didn’t feel special tonight,” Li said. “This girl, I didn’t know anything about her before. I didn’t see her practice, I didn’t practice with her. I was thinking that many balls I hit were winners, but she still came back and hit them deep, and she ran me around a lot today.”
Li now plays Czech Barbora Zahlavova Strycova ahead of a possible fourth-round clash against Belarusian eighth seed Victoria Azarenka.
She could then meet Venus Williams in the quarter-finals in a rematch of last year, when Li shocked the American to reach the final four.
Nishikori, who has been supported by a vocal contingent of Japanese fans, set up a clash with Spanish heavyweight Fernando Verdasco after winning 6-4, 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 against Mayer, ranked 46 places higher at No. 36.
The 21-year-old beat world No. 15 Marin Cilic this month in Chennai and recovered strongly from a stomach upset to knock out Italian Fabio Fognini in his opening match.
“I started well this year from Chennai. I played well there and I’m getting real confidence here,” said Nishikori, who is mentored by high-profile coach Brad Gilbert. “I played another good match today and beating these kind of players gives me more confidence to go on. My goal for now is to get top 50 as soon as I can.”
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