Legendary Navratilova says China's Li Na simply fell victim to tough opponent

MELBOURNE - Four days later, Li Na's tears are still breaking Chinese hearts.

Li squandered four match points in the second-set tiebreak before crumbling in the third to lose her fourth-round battle with Kim Clijsters at the Australian Open.

When it was over, she entered the conference room in a gloomy mood, answering questions with broken sentences and finally bursting into tears after a question from the Chinese media.

Was it really that bad though?

At least one of the sport's greats doesn't think so.

Retired legend Martina Navratilova, who won 18 Grand Slam singles and 41 doubles (both women's and mixed) titles, said she understands Li's burden.

"It's always hard when you have billions of people on your back cheering you on, but you also feel the weight," the 55-year-old told China Daily at courtside at Melbourne Park on Monday.

"It's a lot of pressure especially here in Australia (with so many Chinese in attendance). I think in Europe, it will be a litter easier for her. Still, she has a lot of pressure and the expectations are huge."

Winning an open-era-record 167 singles titles during a 33-year career, Navratilova is one of the sport's icons.

"If you just looked at the match, she just played one bad shot, the back hand she'd have stroked cross court. The other three match points, Kim played really well. She picked up her game," Navratilova said. "It's more a case of Kim playing better rather than Li just choking or playing badly."

"She has to look at the positive and hopefully next time she is in that position, just put the foot on the gas and feel no pity for your opponent, run her more after Kim injured her ankle. But she looks so nice."

The Czech American also said she believes Li's confidence will come back quickly, and that Li's emotional outburst was a result of the dramatic manner in which she lost.

Meanwhile, Petra Kovitova, a semifinalist at Melbourne Park and one of Li's friends on the tour, echoed Navratilova's sentiment.

"Well, it is the women's game and It happens sometimes," Kovitova said after her fourth-round win over Ana Ivanovic. "It was sad for her, but she played really well until the tiebreak. Kim didn't give up but (Li) made some mistakes, then it's really tough to come back in the head and be confident and focused again on every point afterwards."

The defending Wimbledon champion, who's likely to be the new world No 1 after the Open, also stressed the difficulty of remaining calm after missing crucial shots.

"Yeah, it's really hard because you are still thinking that you had some match points. The third set, it's really tough to concentrate in the beginning. Kim was on fire. She didn't have any mistakes so it was really hard to get back for Li," the 21-year-old Czech said.

A deep run at the year's first major following back-to-back berths in the final at Sydney have reasonably proved that Li is rekindling her form after the six months she spent in the tennis wilderness after her French Open victory.

Timothy Nichols, the traveling coach for China's Peng Shuai, has kept a close eye on Li.

"She probably has to get back there, get that situation again and try to fight through it and try to put it behind her. It is the hardest thing to teach and the best way you can practice is putting yourself in the same situation and do it right again," said the American, who is at the Australian Open to guide budding player Zheng Saisai in the junior event.

Nichols remains upbeat about Li's 2012 campaign.

"She's been playing on that level for a long time, so she will recover. If you are young it will take a little longer. She is a mature woman. She will be all right," he said.

Returning to China for the Federation Cup contest that begins next week, Li will probably stay in the top 10 with the post-Open ranking updates, as her 2,000 points for claiming the French Open will remain in the equation until June. She won $109,250 in Melbourne.

China Daily