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By Chris Oddo | Wednesday, February 12, 2014

 

Li Na Will Become the Highest-Ranked Asian Player in the history of tennis on Monday.

Photo Source: Corleve

It was academic, as all Li Na had to do at the Qatar Total Open in Doha this week to become the highest-ranked Asian player in tennis history was step on the court.

The 31-year-old will ascend from No. 3 to No. 2 in next week's WTA rankings, and, since Li was already the highest-ranked Asian tennis player in tennis history, there really wasn't much suspense.

Nobody to pass the torch to but herself, from one Asian trailblazer to another.

Still, Li showed up in good enough form on Wednesday to defeat Magdalena Rybarikova in three sets, 6-1, 5-7, 6-2, before a sparse crowd in Doha to make her ascent to the top two official.

Li stretched her own personal winning streak to 13 matches with the victory, and she will try to avoid the type of letdown that occurred after her Roland Garros triumph in 2011, when she did not win back-to-back matches for four months.

The 31-year-old claims to have matured quite a bit since 2011, and she believes her mental toughness will help her keep her form this spring.

I was an aggressive player already,” she told reporters, “but working with Carlos, I'm becoming even more aggressive now. More calm, more smart and more tough."

Li will face qualifier Petra Cetkovska in the third round. Cetkovska backed up her upset on Sloane Stephens with a three-set victory over Zhuai Zhang on Wednesday

Kvitova Downs Williams in a Thriller:

In other action at the Qatar Total Open, Venus Williams squandered a big lead in the third set, as well as a match point in the third-set tiebreaker, before falling to Petra Kvitova in an epic battle, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(7). Williams saved two match points in the tiebreaker before finally yielding to Kvitova for the second straight time in a deciding-set tiebreaker and the third time in four career matches.

Seeds Sent Crashing:


Only seven seeds have reached the third round in Doha, but the top four (Li, Radwanska, Kvitova, Errani) remain intact. Ana Ivanovic (l. Zakopalova), Caroline Wozniacki (l. Wickmayer) and Sam Stosur (l. Cepelova) were all knocked off on Wednesday.

Kleybanova into Third Round:

Wildcard Alisa Kleybanova advanced with a 6-3, 6-2, victory over Stephanie Voegele. It is the second time that the Russian has achieved back-to-back tour-level victories since returning from her bout with Hodgkins Lymphoma.

 

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