Li Na, 32-year-old Chinese professional tennis player, failed to win the first round of the French Open on Tuesday, as she lost to Kristina Mladenovic of France with a score of 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
With her loss, she failed to get the chance to be the first woman since 2001 to win the Roland Garros and the Australian Open in the same year. The last woman to do so was Jennifer Capriati.
“The problem is myself. I don’t think I’m doing well on the court. And also, even during the match, I don’t think totally about what I should do, like especially I didn’t follow the game plan,” Na said.
French Open Highlights: Li Na Vs. Kristina Mladenovic
Li already won the French Open in 2011, and was hoping to win this year. However, she ended up with 37 errors against Mladenovic’s 25.
Mladenovic, 21, was ranked at No. 103, but was able to improve her game and lift her rank up to No. 36. However, her poor start this season made her slip out of the top 100. The French player was ecstatic about beating Na. “This is really big, you don’t beat Li Na every day,” she said.
.@KikiMladenovic talked to Mary Joe Fernandez about her win over #2 Li Na in the 1st rd of the French Open. http://t.co/q2GshNT8Rl #RG14
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) May 27, 2014
“I gave it away,” said Na. “Nobody say if you No. 2 in the world you have to win all the matches. I mean, this is tennis.” Na also thinks that she would have lost to anyone who went against her that day.
Na’s 2014 season is one of her worst clay seasons in her entire career. At the Stuttgart Open, she had to withdraw because of her left knee injury. At the Mutua Madrid Open, she was able to beat Zheng Jie and Kirsten Flipkens in the first two rounds, but was unable to win against Maria Sharapova. Her bad streak continued when she lost to Sara Errani, who she had defeated 6 times before, at the 2014 Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
Li Na talks about her loss
Image via YouTube