All eyes on Li Na in round two of French Open
Date published :
30 May 2012 - 18:46:52
All eyes will be on Chinese defending champion Li Na when the second round of the French Open women's singles continues on Thursday with a trimmer Asian contingent.
Li faces a hostile crowd when she battles Stephanie Foretz Gacon of France as she presses ahead with her bid to become the first Roland Garros women's titleholder to successfully defend the trophy since Justine Henin in 2007.
Li's compatriot, 31st seed Zheng Jie, was eliminated on Wednesday, leaving Li and fellow Chinese Peng Shuai still in contention.
"I hope she (Li) can win again because in China, after she won a Grand Slam, Chinese tennis is going up a lot," Zheng told AFP, after her 6-2, 6-4 loss to Canada's world number 58 Aleksandra Wozniak.
Despite her singles loss, Zheng remained in contention in women's doubles after she and Peng easily won 6-4, 6-1 against Mona Barthel of Germany and Varvara Lepchenko of the United States on Wednesday.
Peng, the world number 30, will face Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain on Thursday for a place in the final 32.
Japan's Ayumi Morita will have the unenviable task of taking on Russian second seed Maria Sharapova, who is seeking to lift the only major trophy she has never won.
In another Asian match on Wednesday, Taiwanese qualifier Chan Yung-Jan fell to Russia's 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova, the world number 28, who won 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) after breaking down Chan's stubborn resistance in the second set.
