Distraught Na crashes out in China and seeks rest

Li Na suffered a nightmare first-round defeat at the China Open when she went down 6-4 6-0 to 58th-ranked Romanian Monica Niculescu on an expectant centre court yesterday.

The world No 5, making her first appearance in China since winning the French Open this year, dropped serve repeatedly as her slump in form continued. Qualifier Niculescu romped away with the match after taking the first set, leaving Li, and the fans at the newly-opened National Tennis Centre, stunned.

“I have just lost all confidence,” a visibly shaken Li told reporters. “On the court, I don’t know what I can do. It was tough even winning one point. I asked my coach (husband Jiang Shan) to advise me. I know what he said was exactly right, but I couldn’t do (it).”

Millions of Chinese television viewers enjoying a national holiday witnessed silence fall on the 15,000-seat stadium when Li failed to respond to the vocal support of spectators.

Asked by a Chinese reporter what message she had for them, the often outspoken Li replied: “Tell them to take care of their health.” The 29-year-old revealed ahead of the tournament that she was lacking “mental toughness”, a condition laid bare during the humiliating encounter. Since winning the French Open to become the first player from an Asian country to win a grand slam singles title, Li has managed just five victories and suffered a second-round defeat at Wimbledon and a first-round exit at the US Open. She said she would now seek rest “not only for the body, but also for the mind”. “Hopefully I can stand up again and prepare for next year,” she added.

Niculescu described the match as the best of her career before the 24-year-old apologised to the millions of Chinese fans she must have upset. “I’m a little bit surprised that I beat her, but I really thought that I played good. You play a match and somebody has to win and somebody has to lose,” she said. “This time it was Li Na that lost and I’m sorry. I guess played better. I won. I’m pretty sure her fans were happy when she won the French Open.”

Chinese wildcard Shuai Zhang also fell in the first round, losing to Dominika Cibulkova 6-0 6-2, and Kaia Kanepi of Estonia defeated Zheng Saisai 6-0 6-3.

US Open champion Samantha Stosur made light work of Tsvetana Pironkova, beating the 45th-ranked Bulgarian 6-4 6-0. Ana Ivanovic beat Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm for the loss of two games while Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabine Lisicki progressed when Romanian opponent Irina-Camelia Begu retired.