Li, Zheng Pull Off First Round Upsets on Day 2

With a strong showing in Beijing, Svetlana Kuznetsova could have become the fifth player this year to hold the No.1 ranking. But in front of a fired up crowd on Monday that dream came to an abrupt halt, as the world No.3 was bundled out of the tournament in her first match by Li Na.
 
Going into the match, Li was somewhat of an unknown quantity. She had missed the second half of last season with a right rib injury and most of the last five months with a right knee injury, and came into the Olympics ranked No.42 in the world. But her career achievements are notable: she was recently in the Top 20, the only Chinese to do that in the history of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour; she did win 15 of her first 18 matches of this season before being sidelined, going 2-2 since coming back during the grass court season; and she did have eight Top 10 wins to her name, including one over Kuznetsova.
 
It was the world-beater who came onto the court Monday. Kuznetsova, the No.3 seed, started off strongly, racing ahead 5-2 in the first set; but Li bounced back quickly, coming back to take the first set in a tie-break then rallying from a break down early in the second set as well to pull off a 76(5) 64 win, her ninth career Top 10 win in front of her adoring home fans.
 
"We were both tense because this was the first match of the Olympics for both of us," Li said. "Because I'm the one playing at home, I had lots of support behind me. My friends were sending me messages of encouragement. Even though I've had some injuries, they encouraged me to fight. It was very helpful."
 
Li is playing in her second Olympics, having fallen first round in Sydney in 2000 to former world No.1 Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario.
 
Kuznetsova was one of three players in the running for the post-Olympics No.1 ranking, but that can't happen anymore. Although Ana Ivanovic withdrew from the tournament before playing her first match due to a right thumb injury, she can reclaim No.1 from Jelena Jankovic if Jankovic loses before the final.
 
Jankovic, ranked No.1 this week but seeded No.2 here because she was ranked No.2 last week when the seedings were made, had better luck than Kuznetsova in her opener, beating another No.1 - doubles No.1 Cara Black - 63 63.
 
"It was quite special to be playing on my first day as the official No.1, so I was quite excited about that," Jankovic said. "I'm excited to be surrounded by the best athletes in the world. But I'm here to play my tournament. When it comes to my matches, I'm focused on that. I'm here to play; I'm not here to be a tourist. But when I have some free time, I like to go and cheer for my teammates."
 
The Williams sisters, who recently played each other in a Grand Slam final for the seventh time at Wimbledon, both won their first matches in straight sets. Serena, the No.4 seed this week, beat Olga Govortsova, 63 61; Venus, the No.7 seed, beat Timea Bacsinszky in a very slightly closer match, 63 62.
 
"I was a little nervous going out there because it's my first time playing singles at the Olympics; obviously I wanted to do well and win," said Serena, whose only previous Olympic venture was a gold medal performance in doubles in Sydney in 2000, with sister Venus. "It's a great thing to play for your country. You get to play and see all these athletes. You think, 'My God, it's the Olympics.'"
 
"I'm very happy to be in Beijing; I was waiting for this moment since Athens," said Venus, who was a gold medalist in Sydney in 2000 but fell to Mary Pierce in the third round of Athens in 2004. "I would love to have gold in both events this year. I have to work hard to deserve it. I'm willing to make those sacrifices."
 
On the doubles competition, Venus seemed optimistic of her chances.
 
"Fortunately I have a good doubles partner. Her name's Serena Williams, and she's going to do more than half the work. That's going to help me a lot."
 
Most seeds safely through as first round wraps up

Li wasn't the only home player to move into the second round. Zheng Jie, who became China's darling after becoming the first from her country to reach a Grand Slam semi at Wimbledon, upset No.11 seed Agnes Szavay, 46 63 75, while Peng Shuai beat Roland Garros quarterfinalist Carla Suárez Navarro, 75 76(2).
 
"In the final set it was a test of physical strength; I was thinking about the last time at the Olympics, when I lost 8-6 in the third set," Zheng said. "I told myself I wouldn't repeat that mistake again. After Wimbledon we took one month off for physical training, so I got a lot stronger. I'm happy to win today."
 
All in all, 28 players won first round matches on Monday. Other winners were No.5 seed Elena Dementieva, No.6 seed Dinara Safina, No.8 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, No.9 seed Vera Zvonareva and No.10 seed Daniela Hantuchova. Kuznetsova and Szavay weren't the only upset victims; No.14 seed Flavia Pennetta was also ousted, falling to Kaia Kanepi, 62 76(6).

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