Li lost to Kim Clijsters in the first major of the year after becoming the first Asian player to reach a grand slam singles final.
She followed that defeat in Melbourne with four first round exits at tournaments in Dubai, Doha, Indian Wells and Miami before she finally ended her win drought in Stuttgart with a 6-2 6-3 triumph over her Latvian opponent.
"I'm excited. I've been waiting for this win for a long time," Li told the official WTA Tour web site. "I've been asking myself what I want to do and how I can get back on the winning track.
"Coming into this clay court season I knew I had to stand up and take charge."
Li said she was at a loss to explain her poor run of form that followed her Melbourne reverse: "I didn't know if I was the one who changed or it was the other players playing better against me.
"It was after Miami that we really thought hard about everything, but my team always stuck behind me and believed in me. Now I'm back and I'm so happy."
Li will face Dominika Cibulkova or German wildcard Sabine Lisicki in the second round.
Elsewhere, the number eight seed, Mario Bartoli, from France, eased past her first round opponent - Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova - 6-4 6-1.
German qualifier Kristina Barrois also made it into round two, after she disposed of the Czech Republic's Lucie Safarova, 6-1 6-4.
26 comments:
Great to see Nails winnig again! Was getting worried! As you would know Em ;) Ahaha
Schiavone hits a 'tweener' but Aggie comes away with the point! WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!
Aggie wins 6-1, 6-3! I think she wants back in the top ten..
Wow, Aggie totaly embarassed Fran, didn't think she would win that easily!
Wait at a minute, Caps321, you said Schiavone pulled out of this tourney. :/
Clefairy, Lisicki defeated Li Na in straight sets, so much for her comeback.
The number one seed in Morocco was upset by a Lalami who is ranked 497!
The Big Stuffed Bunny won the first set 6-1 and leads 4-1 in the second.
Carlos, here is the link saying she pulled out:
http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/ticker.aspx?articleid=11523&zoneid=6
I'm not sure of the rules concerning players pulling out and then deciding to play? Perhaps she didn't 'officially' pull out and the report was premature.
Btw, I say Aggie is the new queen of clay! Plus, that's two wins in a row off Schiavone.
Petko & Jankovic will be starting shortly.
I'll say it was bad reporting, not your fault Caps321.
Aggie has two convincing wins over Schiavone. She has literally destroyed Schiavone.
JJ and Petkovic are one set a piece. JJ took the first 6-3 Petkovic won the second 6-1
Petko wins the decider 6-3!!
And what happend too Vika?
Don't know Captain but she ruin my dream match up. Sunday's final Angry Bird Vs. The Big The Stuffed Bunny: The Battle For The Eggs Part 2 The Easter Showdown. :P
BTW any word on The Fist Pumping Imbecile's coaching and trainer situation?
Shoulder injury for the Angry Bird, Captain. She said she first injured it during Fed Cup, source Tennis.com
The matches I'm interested in today:
Cornet/Safina
Bunny/Petko
Aggie/Barrois
Started watching this match very late:
Goerges just won the first set against Lisicki 6-4.
Gorges wins the second set 6-4. She was playing pretty good.. But, I'm not familiar with her usual play.
First set:
Petko was up 4-1 and all the sudden Bunny is winning 5-4. I think Petko missing 3 big overheads (not in succession)had something to do with her breakdown.
Petko is playing too loose on very big points. She keeps hitting them long....
Bunny wins 6-4.
I can't watch Petko 'net' any more forehands. I'm turning this crap off for now.
The Big Stuffed Bunny just dusted Petkovic 6-4, 6-1. What? No dancing from Andrea? Did she forget her dancing shoes?
I don't see Barrois beating Aggie, so the possibility of a Bunny/Aggie match up in the semis is very likely.
Caps321 if we anoint Aggie as "Queen of Clay" should The Princess mount a revolt or would The Princess be willing to join the queen's court?
I checked the score, Aggie won the first set 7-5 after Barrois broke Aggie to go up 4-3.
Carlos, no telling what The Princess would do. I can't figure her out!
Barrois is a tricky player but Aggie just won 7-5, 6-3.
I'm not feeling very well about Bunny vs. Aggie. Let me check their head to head -- Bunny leads 3-1 and Aggie hasn't won against her since 2007.
Goerges vs. Stosur should be interesting.
Btw, Aggie is going to need the off day tomorrow after this tough match.
It seems The Big Bunny has the number on her friends, she also has a winning record against Angry Bird. Head to head the Bunny leads 4-2 the Big Bunny winning the last three matches.
Safina had an easy victory over Moi Lolita. She will face her compatriot Pivovarova -cute girl- in the next round. Moi Lolita can't step it up a notch.
Oudin won, she will face the Italian Brianti in the next round.
Safina seems to be in a lot of pain out there. I think she took a medical timeout off court as well.
The score as of now is Pivovarova leading 4-6, 6-2, 4-3.
Looks like the Safina match is in a rain delay. Maybe that's what happened earlier as well.
Safina won.
Was just checking Melanie Oudin's W-L record for this year.
She has 5 wins, 14 losses and is ranked #93.
Perhaps its time to cut bait with that coach of hers..
Oudin lost the first set 7-5. Losing the second set 3-4. She needs to shake things up.
She won the second 7-5 but is already down 2-0 in the third.
I was watching the live scoreboard and she had set point in the first before the tie break..
I was also watching the scoreboard she lost the third 6-0. Yep, that is the state of U.S. tennis.
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