Li Na has defeated Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the third round of the Australian Open 2013. Li won the match in the straight sets by 6-4, 6-1. With this victory, the Chinese superstar has made her way into the final 16.
This was the fifth match between these two players. Out of the previous four matches, Li had won three.
In the opening set, Li took the lead with a serve break in the third game. Li served out the fourth game and the score became 3-1 in her favour.
Li broke Cirstea’s service for the second time in the set in the fifth game to make the score 4-1.
Li was in full control at that stage. But, Cirstea made a comeback after that. The Romanian player broke Li’s service twice and won three out of the next four games to reduce the lead to 4-5.
Cirstea needed one more breakthrough to level the scores. But, she couldn’t do that. Li served out the 10th game and won the opening set.
Li was in a destructive mood in the second set. She played with a lot of aggression. Quite a few wonderful forehand shots came off her racquet and she just took the match beyond the reach of the Romanian youngster.
Li broke Cirstea’s service thrice and won the first five games on the trot. She only had to hold her service in the sixth game to win the match, but, she failed in doing so. Her service was broken in the sixth game, but, that didn’t have any impact on the result of the match. Li broke Cirstea’s service for the fourth time in the set in the seventh game and won the match.
In the fourth round, Li Na will take on Julia Gorges of Germany.