Second seed Li Na of China was the big first round casualty in the Auckland Classic women's tournament after a straight sets thrashing by unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi on Tuesday
Second seed Li Na of China was the big first round casualty in the Auckland Classic women's tournament after a straight sets thrashing by unseeded Estonian Kaia Kanepi on Tuesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Chinese world number 15 admitted to being overwhelmed by Kanepi in the 6-1, 6-3 mauling.
"On her serve, I could do nothing," Li said. "She was hitting the ball so hard, I couldn't see it.
"She controlled every point. The match just came to her side and I could do nothing."
The 24-year-old Estonian was on song with her serve, hitting three aces and landing two out of three first serves.
"I feel very satisfied," said Kanepi. "I had only a few games that I didn't do good, but I thought I was mentally stronger today," she said.
Li was the second seed to fall in the first round, after eighth-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues was beaten by Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova 6-2, 6-3 on Monday.
Israel's Shahar Peer overcame the noise of eight demonstrators outside the stadium opposing Israel's policies towards Palestinians to beat Slovenia's Polona Hercog 7-5, 6-3.
"For me, the most important thing was that even though I was hearing those things, which were not nice, I still won," she said.
Peer's match and two other first round ties at the start of the day were delayed by about 20 minutes after police cleared spectators from the stadium because of a bomb scare.
The security alert, which police said was unrelated to the protest, was resolved when an unattended bag was reunited with its owner.
Italian fourth seed Francesca Schiavone, fifth seed Virginie Razzano of France and Russian sixth seed Elena Vesnina all progressed safely to the second round after their opening matches Tuesday.
New Zealand's sole remaining hope Marina Erakovic made a hasty departure, falling 6-4, 6-3 to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.
She refused to blame an injury-plagued 2009 for her loss.
"I wish I could say my preparation wasn't good, but it was good," the wildcard entry said. "I wish I could say I had a long injury, but it's behind me now.
"I had a tough day at the office, but I have to move on."
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
