Chinese Li Na was the only player to carry home interest in the last eight of the women's singles in Olympic tennis event, coming back from one set down to beat Kaia Kanepi from Estonia 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the third round on Wednesday.
"First, I did not know much about my opponent, and second, I wanted to win so much. That led to my loss in the first set. In the second set, I tried to reduce the faults and tried to find the opportunities to attack," Li said after the match.
In the opening set, Li fired eight winners to just one of the Estonian, but was troubled by her uncharacteristic 31 unforced errors to 17 of Kanepi, losing at 6-4.
Coming into the second set, Li played a consistent game and did not give her opponent any break point, while converting on five of all her 10 chances of breaking in the remaining time.
Having made her Olympic debut, Li came into play as an unseeded player due to long-time injury, but she produced the biggest upset in the first round by beating Russian world number three Svetlana Kuznetsova.
She will play world number eight Venus Williams in the quarterfinals.
"I hope I can hold on to the last round and try to win the game step by step. We all know that Venus is a very good player. It is really hard to predict what will happen next. But I will try my best tomorrow."
In an early match, Wimbledon semifinalist Zheng Jie battled hard but her opponent Dinara Safina's superior groundstrokes were too much for the her.
But Zheng got compensation in a late doubles match, coming onto the court with her long-time partner Yan Zi to beat Emmanuelle Gagliardi/Patty Schnyder from Switzerland 6-3, 7-6(2) and making it to the third round.
"At the beginning we got into a pretty good state and they were overwhelmed by our momentum. They were not playing well in the first set, but adjusted their strategy in the second set," Zheng said. "Schnyder is one of the top players in the world and it was not easy to deal with her."
"I played two matches every day, it is really a test on my physical strength. I was at my limit, but Olympics is only once every four years, and I will strive to hold on."
The host's medal hopefuls will be greatly tested while facing top seeds Svetlana Kuznetsova/Dinara Safina of Russia in the third round on Thursday.
(Xinhua News Agency August 14, 2008)