15/30/40 GAME SET MATCH...PALONG PINOY

Kuznetsova said she had been having trouble with “the mental side of things” for several weeks, and that came to haunt her in her 76(5) 64 defeat to China’s No 2 player Li Na.

Kuznetsova started well enough, taking Li’s opening service game and leading 5-2, but Li was clearly psyched up for this match. Her fortunes have slumped from her career-high ranking of 16 last year, and only now is she starting to rediscover her form after a run of stomach, rib and knee problems. This was clearly her opportunity.

After taking the first set on the tiebreak, she played a great second set, marred only by freezing when leading 5-2. At 5-4 she missed her third match point, and if Kuznetsova had saved a fourth, the match could have turned. But this was Li’s moment, and as the clock struck ten, a beautifully fluent backhand forced an error out of Kuznetsova, and Li was through to a second-round match against Marina Erakovic/Ayumi Morita.