WIMBLEDON, England — After playing so well, so often, at this year’s first two major tournaments, Li Na’s run at Wimbledon came to an early end.
Only 2 1/2 weeks after giving China its first Grand Slam singles championship at the French Open, and five months after being the runner-up at the Australian Open, Li was knocked out in the second round at the All England Club on Thursday, the grass-court tournament’s biggest upset so far.
The third-seeded Li wasted two match points and succumbed to the speedy serving of wild-card entry Sabine Lisicki of Germany in a 3-6, 6-4, 8-6 loss. Lisicki hit 17 aces, including one at 124 mph, which the WTA said is the fastest serve by a woman all season.
“I mean, (from) the first point till the end of the match, every serve was, like, around 117 miles (per hour),” said Li, 14-1 in Grand Slam play in 2011 before Thursday. “I mean, this is impossible for the women.”
Elsewhere, Serena Williams again was pushed to three sets before winning, then complained a bit about having to play on Court 2 instead of Centre Court or Court 1; Roger Federer overwhelmed his opponent in straight sets, then basked in a standing ovation after playing under the retractable roof at the main stadium for the first time; and two-time French Open runner-up Robin Soderling came back after losing the first two sets to beat 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt 6-7 (5), 3-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
Li appeared headed to the third round too. Leading 5-3 in the third set, she was a point away from victory while Lisicki served at 15-40. But Lisicki got out of that jam this way: 122- mph service winner, 123-mph service winner, 124-mph ace, 122-mph ace.
“Obviously, a good serve is important, but also, you have to use it well,” the 62nd-ranked Lisicki said. “And I think I’m serving quite smart, as well. So it definitely helped me today.”
Talk about an understatement.
Thanks to that serve, Lisicki is no stranger to success on grass, reaching the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2009 and winning a tuneup tournament this month at Birmingham, England; she’s won 12 of her last 13 matches on the slick surface. But she missed five months last year because of a left ankle injury, temporarily dropping out of the top 200 in the rankings.
“Oh, it’s been terrible. I mean, I really, literally, had no muscles in my left calf after seven weeks on crutches. So I had to start to learn how to walk again,” the 21-year-old Lisicki said. “It’s been a very, very long road back, and tough road back. But that makes those moments right now sweeter.”
Lisicki’s return game was good too, and she broke twice when Li served for the match, at 5-4 and 6-5.
Williams was forced to a third set for the fourth consecutive match since returning to the tour after nearly a year away because of a series of health scares. And while she eventually seized control to beat Simona Halep of Romania 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, it’s clear that Williams is still working her way into shape.
“I got a little tight out there,” Williams said, “and I just need to relax.”
