French champion knocked out early

Associated Press

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 21/2 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 ’til 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.”