Li Na wins AEGON Classic
Jun 14 2010 by Brian Dick, Birmingham Mail
JUBILANT AEGON Classic champion Li Na revealed she has spent the week in paradise on the court and off it.
The Chinese player claimed her first title for two years yesterday when she hammered crowd favourite Maria Sharapova in straight sets in the final at the Edgbaston Priory Club.
Indeed the 7-5, 6-1 victory brought the 28-year-old her maiden grass court crown and put her in confident move ahead of Wimbledon, which starts a week today.
And after dismissing the challenge of a player she has beaten just once in her previous six attempts, the delighted top seed disclosed the ingredients behind her truimph.
“I have been going to the same restaurant every day this week,” she said. “We’ve been staying in the Crowne Plaza and going to Shangri-la to eat.
“It’s good food, very spicy. We’ve not had the same dish every time but it’s been good to go there.”
Li was tempted to the eatery by compatriot Xinyun Han, the rookie who Li is mentoring and who fell in qualifying last weekend.
And having found the recipe for success, the Classic’s first Chinese champion overcame the uncertainty surrounding her participation in the event to ease through five matches for the loss of just two sets.
Which is made all the more creditable given the fact the world No.11 did not even know whether she would be returning to the venue where she reached the final in 2009.
Li had to wait a week in Paris for her visa application to be processed and only found out she could travel on June 1.
She asked for a wild card soon afterwards and had to wait until June 5 to learn whether she had been granted one.
And when the rain disrupted the start to the Classic the Australian Open semi finalist had barely had any practice time when she started her first match against Anne Keothavong on Thursday.
But easily she disposed of the Briton and ripped through the draw past Angelique Kerber, Kaia Kanepi and Aravane Rezai.
She was made to battle by Sharapova, who the day before had shown signs of returning to her very best form after a couple of years of injury trouble.
Indeed the Russian broke in Li’s first service game and went on to open up a 2-0 lead.
However, Li’s athleticism, supreme mobility and the depth of her ground strokes pushed Sharapova further and further back.
After claiming a break of her own she claimed her opponents’ serve a 6-5 with a deep return on set point that the Siberian could only dump in the net.
However, the second set was one way traffic as Sharapova’s serve fell apart. Li broke for 3-1 and then again in the sixth game and served out to take the Maud Watson trophy.
