Li Na has been defeated by Serena Williams in the semi final round of the US Open 2013. Serena won the match in the straight sets by 6-0, 6-3.

With this win, Serena has set up another match with the Belarusian player Victoria Azarenka who made her way into the title round with a straight set victory over Flavia Pennetta of Italy.

This was Serena’s 10^th match against Li and she defeated the Chinese player for the 9^th time.

In the post match interview, Serena said, “It’s fantastic to be in the final round again. I got a fine start and managed to put Li under a bit of pressure. However, she came back well in the second set and made it tough for me to win points.”

When asked about facing Victoria Azarenka in the final match, Serena said, “We have played against each other quite a few times. So, we are well aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Whoever plays better on the day will win.”

On the other hand, Li admitted that she was feeling a bit of nervousness on the court. The Chinese player said, “This was not the first occasion that I was featuring in a final 4 match. I had played quite a few before this as well. So, I should have been relaxed, but, that wasn’t the case. I was actually nervous right from the start and was not able to concentrate at all.”

In the opening set, Li played some awful tennis. She was completely off-colour. She dropped her serve thrice consecutively and allowed Serena to secure a bagel.

Li had a better start in the second set as she broke Serena’s serve in the 3^rd game to take a lead of 2-1. But, she was broken back immediately and the scores became 2-2.

Serena got one more breakthrough in the 6^th game and after that, she just held her remaining serves to finish off the contest.

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Li Na has said that she is feeling good about her game at the moment and she is hopeful of having a good outing in the upcoming Rogers Cup.

Li is the only player from Asia who has won a Grand Slam singles title. She had done that a couple of years back in 2011 when she had lifted the trophy at Roland Garros.

Li has been given the 4^th seed in the Rogers Cup. Because of her high seeding, she won’t have to play the first round match. She has been given a bye.

In the second round, Li will take on the winner of the match between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia and Carol Zhao of Canada.

Li had a good time in the Rogers Cup last year. She had played fantastic tennis and had ended up being the runner up. In the final match, she was defeated by Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic.

When asked about her chances in the Rogers Cup, Li said, “I had done well last year. But, the past successes don’t matter much. It’s a new campaign and it’s important for me to concentrate hard in every match.”

Li was observed playing with a different technique in the Wimbledon Championships. She was trying to go close to the net on more occasions. According to the reports, she has been told by her coach to do that.

When asked about that, Li said, “I actually felt quite comfortable playing that way at Wimbledon. I will keep doing that in the upcoming tournaments as well.”

Li also said that a bit of break after the Wimbledon Championships has helped her getting refreshed.

The Chinese superstar said, “It was nice to have a few weeks off. It has refreshed me. I am now looking to have a good hard court season.”

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