By Will Swanton
SYDNEY Jan 10 (Reuters) – World number one Caroline
Wozniacki received some glowing words of support from French
Open champion Li Na after both players flirted with early exits
at the Sydney International on Tuesday.
Denmark’s Wozniacki trailed Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova
4-0 in the third set of their second round encounter in the Ken
Rosewall Arena before the top seed eked out a 7-5 2-6 6-4
victory in the final warm-up event for the Australian Open.
Chinese fourth seed Li was also taken the distance in a 2-6
6-4 6-1 win over South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers, digging deep
to draw on her improved fitness garnered from an intensive
off-season spent in Germany.
Despite holding the number one spot for two years,
Wozniacki’s lack of a major title has left some observers to
question her credibility as the world’s top player but number
five Li believes the Dane deserves to be regarded as the best.
“I would like to say she’s a really tough player,” Li told
reporters.
“Really. I mean, every time I am against her, I’m tired and
cramping. She has improved a lot on her forehand because I used
to see her miss a lot on the forehand,” Li added.
“Now she doesn’t have any mistakes. She has two years in a
row as world number one and of course the goal for her now is to
win a grand slam.
“It is not easy to do, but I think she will keep going and
never give up.”
Continued…
