TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – World’s number 2, Na Li has made another early round exit from a major for the second time in a row. She loses third round to Czech Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova 7-65 7-65. Cordell Hackshaw
Results, Order of Play, Draws and Interviews from The Championships
Na Li (2) went out early again in her second major in a row. Several weeks ago, she went out in the first round of the French Open and now, she was dismissed in the 3rd round of Wimbledon. Since winning the Australian Open, she has struggled to find similar form and show herself to be a consistent contender for major titles. Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova who has been showing superb form on grass this year, making it to the finals of Birmingham couple of weeks ago, remained focus and determined as she knocked out Li 7-65 7-65 in the near 2 hours and 20 minutes battle. “Well, the key was just the belief, the belief in myself, to not give her any easy points. I think I did that right. I was serving very well. I was following the tactic what my coach said. I think that was the key,” Zahlavova-Strycova said after the match.
Li came out in fine form as she broke Zahlavova-Strycova in the opening game. She looked to be very aggressive in her return game but all this momentum soon dissipated as Li was immediately broken when she double faulted on break point in her opening service game. Li continued in this passive mood as she was broken yet again in the 4th game to see Zahlavova-Strycova go up 3-1. Li was making some rather strange and amateurish errors. One such error from Li came in the that 4th game when on game point Li allowed her opponent to get away with a poor lob which Li inexplicably misjudged to go out since the ball landed right near her feet well inside the baseline. Li would make 21 unforced errors altogether in the 1st set compared to 14 from Zahlavova-Strycova. Zahlavova-Strycova remained positive on court despite being broken in the 5th game as she went after her shots particularly on the Li serve. Li saved a break point in the 8th game which would have given Zahlavova a chance to serve for the set at 5-3. The set went to a tiebreaker as they remained on serve.
In the breaker, again Li started off aggressively by taking the first two points but then became lackadaisical as she allowed Zahlavova-Strycova to be the one dictating play in the breaker particularly on Li’s service game. Up 6-5, the Czech was able to take the set 7-65 after Li mishit the ball and could not keep it in play. In the 2nd set, they would remain on serve for its entirety with no break point opportunities for either player. Li had chances to force issue up 5-4 and again at 6-5 on Zahlavova-Strycova’s serve but she missed two easy overhead shots which would have given her break points had she made them. Instead Zahlavova-Strycova held serve to extend her life in the set and be that closer to the upset victory.
Another tiebreaker would decide the set and as in the first one, Li took the early lead 2-0. However, she was unable to maintain this lead as she could not put the returns on Zahlavova-Strycova’s serves in play. Zahlavova-Strycova kept things even throughout until she edged head ahead ever so slightly at 6-5. On match point, Li serving, it appeared as though another of her forehand went long. Zahlavova-Strycova, ecstatic, came up to net to shake hands but Li had challenged the call. The celebration was cut short as Li was right; her ball was in and she had another shot at saving match point as they re-played the point. However, with this second chance at life, Li double faulted and handed the match to Zahlavova-Stryvoca 7-65 7-65.
Zahlavova-Strycova summed up her feelings on this big win, “I feel great here and I felt great on Birmingham. I believed in myself coming into this match. I thought I can do it. That what happened. I’m really glad I could pull this through.” This is indeed an impressive win. The Czech was able to stay so mentally sharp throughout the match not only by holding serve but more importantly playing the big points very well. She was clearly the one dictating play on court, finding her way up at net and winning 21/29 points there, compared to Li was 16/34. This was the major difference in the match as they had similar stats everywhere else. Zahlavova-Strycova will next face Caroline Wozniacki for a place in the quarterfinals; “[S]he’s a great player … This will be a challenge for me. This is my first time in the second week of a Grand Slam so I will enjoy. I will do the same like I did the previous matches: I will focus on myself, on my game … I like to play volleys, I like to serve good. So we see how it goes.”
