Sixth seed Li Na of China, who won the French Open in 2011, said being a champion is pretty far away right now after she reached the women's singles third round Thursday at Wimbledon here.
The top Chinese player overcame a blip in the second set and rallied to beat Simona Halep 6-2, 1-6, 6-0 to enter the third round, her first return to the last-32 of this Grand Slam since 2010, reports Xinhua.
"I think I was pretty good in the beginning of the match in the first set," said the 31-year-old, who only needed 29 minutes to win the opening set.
"But at end of the first set, she (Simona) called the official. I thought, maybe she will retire or something. I already lost concentration on the court."
The World No.32 of Romania, who asked to receive a lengthy treatment after the opening set, found her pace in the next set to regain the momentum, causing Li Na to suffer most of her 14 unforced errors in the one hour and 25 minute match.
However, Li Na, quarterfinalist here in 2006 and 2010, calmed down to break her opponent three times and win six straight games in the third set to seal the victory.
"She kicks your ass in the second set. (Told myself to) wake up so that you should be ready for the final set," said the Chinese.
More From This Section
Li Na said she was surprised to see many top players including second seed Victoria Azarenka and third seed Maria Sharapova to have stopped their journey in the second round Wednesday, when seven players in total pulled out of the Championships due to injury.
"I know this is bad, but I have to say it's worst for Wimbledon, for history, because many stars were out of the tournament, and also so many pulled out due to injury," said the 2011 French Open winner.
So far, Li Na, together with Serena Williams and fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, are the top-three ranked players in women's singles left at Wimbledon. Li Na said she needed to go round by round.
"I only won two rounds. So it is pretty far to be the champion. So for me just round by round to do my best."