Tennis: Li Na made her way to exit from Wimbledon

LONDON: Chinese second seed Li Na knocked out by Barbora Strycova in the third round of Wimbledon. But some well known champions also joined Li Na as five-time women´s champion Venus Williams, men´s 2002 winner Lleyton Hewitt and 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych all packed up for exit.

Second seed,  Barbora Zahlavova Strycova  beat Li Na with 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) , with the defeat coming hot on the heels of her shock first round exit at the French Open.

Li Na has not qualified for the quarter final, in eight appearances in Wimbledon . She accepted that she bungled by not playing a grasscourt warm-up, but was depressed by the anticipation of having to combat on the wet and wild English south coast. "I always play Eastbourne every year, but it´s always raining and windy. So I said, OK, I cannot practice in that," she said. "I said let´s change a little bit. I came here pretty early to try and play on the grass courts. It was the wrong decision."


But Li served up a seventh double fault on the replayed point, giving the world number 43,  Strycova, an surprised victory.

It is the first time the 28-year-old, who served a six-month doping ban in 2013, has reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament.


Victory for Zahlavova Strycova represented a first last-16 spot at a major for the world number 43 at the 32nd time of asking.