Li Na got back on track after her French Open misery as the Chinese second seed enjoyed a 7-5, 6-2 win over Polish qualifier Paula Kania in the Wimbledon first round yesterday
Li Na plays a return shot to Paula Kania yesterday. Pic/AFP
London: Li Na got back on track after her French Open misery as the Chinese second seed enjoyed a 7-5, 6-2 win over Polish qualifier Paula Kania in the Wimbledon first round yesterday.
Li Na plays a return shot to Paula Kania yesterday. Pic/AFP
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Li suffered her worst Grand Slam performance since 2011 when she slumped to an opening round exit against Kristina Mladenovic in Paris last month, but her first match since then was less traumatic.
The 32-year-old from Wuhan was too strong for Kania in their 76-minute clash on Centre Court, hitting 24 winners to set up a second round meeting with Austria's Yvonne Meusburger.
Venus hungry for more
Five-time champion Venus Williams said she was hungry to add to her Wimbledon trophy haul as she started her 2014 campaign with a three-set win.
The 30th seed, who missed last year's Championships through injury, beat Spain's world number 53 Maria-Teresa Torro-Flor 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in an hour and 46 minutes on the Court Two show court.
Meanwhile, former World No 1 Victoria Azarenka won her first match since January on the same court where she suffered a knee injury which ended her 2013 hopes.
Azarenka, the eighth seed, won 6-3, 7-5 against Croatia's Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who was a semi-finalist back in 1999, on Court One.
Stosur crashes out
Samantha Stosur suffered another Wimbledon nightmare as the Australian 17th seed crashed out in the first round. Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer defeated Stosur's 6-3, 6-4.
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